I've Been Imprinted On, So?
by 6AwsumPossum9
Summary: Myren is sort of a bully, so when he's imprinted on by wolf Derek, he sees this as an opportunity to break someone down.  Meanwhile, a rogue werewolf is on a killing spree.  Will Myren let Derek save him, or is it too late? OC/OC Contains slash
1. Myren

I posted this story on Quizilla a while ago under the name account name Cellphoneperson7. This is the same story, but I edited it some and took out some parts and chapters I viewed as unnecessary. If you wish to view the original, it's still on Quizilla, but I was kind enough to bring it to you all new and fresh. :] hehe, I guess I'm full of myself. Anyway, I made up my own werewolf/shape shifter in this story because I originally didn't want to tweak the original story line, but I decided that I might have to make minor changes instead. All regular pairings! This story takes place after New Moon. Please enjoy and feel free to offer any criticism.

I DO NOT OWN TWILIGHT. I only own the plot of this story and the original characters I have created.

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…My phone.

I had forgotten my phone. The second most important piece of gadgetry that I never leave the house without (my iPod's first). I can't believe it. When I was asked if I had everything, I forgot to check to see if I had my cell phone. This was by far the worst week of my life.

First, my uncle, who I live with, got fired from his job. I'm not sure what for, but then again, he never liked to work too hard. I suppose that his boss finally got the brains to fire him. What a smart guy.

Then, to top that off, I got expelled from school. How was I supposed to know that when we dissect frogs, it's natural for them to have occasional muscle spasms even when dead? My frog's leg kicked and I flung that frog across the room while screaming "Zombie!" The frog hit my biology teacher's face and even broke his glasses. Stupid biology teacher for wearing cheap glasses.

And then the school that I was supposed to go to next burnt down. That just goes to show that if you smoke weed in the bathroom, make sure that you don't throw away a lit match in a trash can filled with paper.

So Henry, my uncle, decided to move me in with his ex-brother-in-law, Charlie. I wished that I could've lived with my aunt, but she and her new husband are traveling around playing minor league baseball. Here's the keyword: MINOR! It's not as important as Major, so why bother traveling around for it? Maybe they have no life.

I always did like visiting my aunt more than my uncle. I mean, I have no blood relation to Charlie. We're not even the same race; not that that matters. I just hope that people won't find it weird having a Mexican boy living with a white man and his daughter. I hope that Forks isn't some hick-town. I've asked around and none of my friends have any idea of what it is. A city? A suburb? A trailer park?

Henry sighed. "Please try to make the best of it Myren," he told me.

That's my name: Myren. My parents had tried to combine the names Michael and Darren together, but instead they wound up with a name that sounds like "siren." My mother died during my birth and my father shot himself on my third birthday. My older brother, Rick, calls me the Life-Ruiner because before my birth, everyone in the family was happy. My parents were still alive, Rick wasn't blind, my uncle didn't have to put up with us, my sister Raven wasn't raped, and my aunt didn't leave Henry for his mother. My father shot himself because he said that every time he looked in my eyes, he saw my mother, and so he hated me for that. He had even told me to my face that the worst day of his life was the day I was born and that he wished that Mom had gotten an abortion like he told her to when they found out that she was pregnant. My father had turned to drinking and got drunk one night. He then took drain cleaner and poured it on Rick's eyes as he held him down, causing Rick to go blind. My father had told me that it was all really my fault because me killing Mom led him to drink which led him to blind Rick which then led him to kill himself on my birthday: ruining the first and only birthday party I had. Once I started middle school, I needed help on my math, so Henry hired a tutor. Raven was visiting us from UCLA that week. My tutor turned out to be a previously convicted sex offender, who raped Raven and fled the country immediately afterwards, so there was no trial yet. After that, she dropped out of college and moved in with Henry. She says that because I wasn't smart enough in math meant that I had to hire someone to rape her so that her hopes and dreams would be crushed, making me feel better. When she moved in, Aunt Sandra, Henry's ex-wife, turned lesbian and married Henry's mother, who is my grandmother. I have no idea why that's my fault too, but everyone says it is.

I can't wait until I'm done with high school and move away to start college. I'm a sophomore now, so I don't have that long. When I move, I'm going to go to a college somewhere far away, like London or Tokyo. That way, I can escape all the negativity and hatred feelings that my own family puts towards me. Well, I think that Rick is stupid and should just get an eye-transplant. Raven should actually get off the couch and get a job instead of blaming me for all of her failures. Henry should make sure that the next time he gets married, the woman isn't a lesbian. None of these things are my fault, but yet everyone likes to say they are just because they're too stuck up to admit their mistakes.

My plane landed in Seattle, with a ten minute delay. Henry said it was because I took too long walking to the terminal. On second thought, maybe it was a good idea to have lost my phone. He can't call me now, unless he calls Charlie.

I got off and walked out of the security gate and into the baggage claim. I grabbed my three suitcases (I have a lot of stuff) and waited outside by the entrance. Maybe Charlie will pull around and pick me up in his police cruiser. I hope not. How horrible would it be being seen getting into a police car at an airport? No thank you. Hopefully he has another car, like a Mustang, or a Ferrari, or a Lamborghini!

Just then this really old red Chevy came and parked in front of me.

_Please God, if you love me, this person would be asking me for directions._ The driver, a teenage girl, rolled the passenger window down and popped her head out. "Myren?" she asked.

_Crap! _"Yes," I responded, wondering how much a ticket back to Henry's cost

"I'm Bella, you're cousin," she said. "Just put your bags in the back and hop in."

_I'd like to slap you across your ugly face with my bag! _"Okay." I rolled all three of them towards the back and, with a lost of strain, put them in the bed of the truck. I then sat in the truck next to Bella.

She started driving off. "So…how long is it to Forks?" I asked.

"About forty minutes," she responded.

Forty minutes? I have to spend forty minutes in this rusty can she calls a car?

For the first twenty minutes, the car was filled with tension. Neither of us talked. I wanted to start up a conversation, but then again, I wasn't sure if she was some freak who wouldn't shut her mouth when the dialogue got boring.

I have a feeling that I'm going to hate Forks.


	2. Swan Residence

The rest of the drive back to the house was long and boring. I made the mistake of asking Bella if she was seeing anyone, and she responded talking nonstop about some… Edmund? I don't know, I tuned her out when she mentioned something about biology.

"…and then he took me to dinner. He didn't eat though because he's on some special diet…"

I just nodded and looked out the window. It was snowing right now. I loved the snow, and the rain and cold weather. I don't know why, I'm just one of those people that prefer to cold than to be hot. At least that's one good thing about Forks.

We pulled into a driveway, next to the police car. The house was two-story and seemed to look alright from the outside. I'm positive that the inside would be filled with some lame Native American statues. I heard Bella saying that there was some reservation nearby. I wonder if they still live in teepees.

I got out of the truck and walked up the driveway up to the house. Bella slipped on the ice. I tried to hold back a laugh. I had forgotten how clumsy she was. Then again, she was so plain that anyone could forget her with ease. I decided that I'd be nice and go help her up. When I turned around, however, she was already standing up. I guess she likes to feel independent. Whatever.

Bella opened the door for me and helped me carry in two of my suitcases. Sure some people might say that the guy should do most of the work. However, I'm thinner than most boys and therefore a lot weaker. Plus, Bella's like two years older than me, and some heavy-lifting would do her some good.

Charlie walked into the hallway from where I think was the kitchen, considering he had ketchup on his shirt. "Hey Rick, how you been?" he asked holding out his hand.

That dumbass doesn't know who I am! "I'm Myren," I reminded him.

Charlie's eyes dropped and he put his hand down. I get it! So he wanted to shake hands with Rick, not Myren. I don't need that.

I turned around and faced Bella. "Where's my room?" I asked.

"Upstairs, next to mine," she said. "I'll show you."

We both took my bags upstairs and into an empty room that only had a twin-sized bed next to the window and a dresser in the closet. A dresser in the closet?

I immediately began to put my stuff away.

"Need any help?" Bella offered.

"I got it," I said, turning my back to her: a clear sign that her presence wasn't needed anymore.

She took the hint and went downstairs, probably to clean up after Charlie.

I shut the door and grabbed my iPod and laid down on my twin-sized (how lame is that?) bed. I started to listen to Imogen Heap's _Headlock_ at full-blast so that I couldn't think straight.

This was already horrible! The car's crap, Charlie's retarded, Bella's boring, and my room's as big as a shoebox! I looked out the window and glanced down at the picket-fence below my window. Maybe if I jump at the correct angle…

I shook my head. Those were horrible things to think of.

I was all unpacked and had my room the way I wanted it when Bella knocked on my door. "Dinner's ready," she said.

I went downstairs, and after accidentally going into the living room, headed into the kitchen.

I looked down at the plate Bella had placed in front of me. She made lasagna. I've actually never had lasagna that was made in a house before. I always eat it at a restaurant. This should be interesting.

I took one bite and fell in love with it. It was so perfect!

"What do you think Myren? I usually do all the cooking," Bella said.

That's a good idea. Charlie would probably make crap on a bun. "Really? It's pretty good."

I finished my plate, but Charlie had already eaten the last of the lasagna before I could get anymore. That pig! Then the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Bella said as she excused herself from the table.

Charlie groaned.

"What?" I asked. Maybe his stomach exploded form all the food he ate.

"That's most likely Edward, Bella's boyfriend," he responded.

Oh, it wasn't Edmund? "What's wrong with him?"

"He's always hanging around here, like he's obsessed or something. Even got Bella to sneak off to Italy! Can you believe that?"

_Actually, no. _I thought that Bella would've snuck off to some Dungeons and Dragons convention, not Italy. "Wow."

"Tell me about it. I don't know, he just doesn't sit right with me."

_All you ever do is sit, so that's kind of hard to believe._ "Really?"

"Just be careful around him."

_I should be careful around you! I've seen the way you eat. You might eat me if we ever run out of mayonnaise! _"Sure thing."

Bella and some pale dude walked into the kitchen. Charlie grumbled something and left. _Oh, sure! Tell me all about how you don't trust this guy and then leave me alone with him! Thanks Charlie._ I seriously can't believe him sometimes.

"Myren, this is Edward. Edward, this is my cousin Myren," Bella introduced us.

I gave a faint grin.

"How do you do?" Edward asked.

I've never heard anyone say that outside of the movies. "Good."

"So Myren, Edward's going to be driving us to school in the morning, okay?" Bella asked.

Anything's better than riding a bus. I have to admit, I half-expected Bella to ride the short-bus to school.

Edward made some weird sound. A growl? Maybe he's trying to get the taste of Bella's spermy-spit out of his mouth. I smiled at my little joke.

Edward made the sound again.

"You alright?" I asked him.

"Just fine," he responded in a hard voice. What was his problem? Maybe he's schizophrenic.

The phone rang. "I'll get it," I said, glad to have an excuse to get away from The Even Couple.

"Hello? Swan residence," I answered. It felt weird saying "Swan residence." I knew that I lived at the residency now, but my last name wasn't Swan, it was Estrada.

"May I speak with Bella?" a guy's voice asked.

I motioned to Bella that the phone was for her.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Who's calling?" I asked.

"It's Jacob," the guy responded.

"Jacob," I repeated for Bella. Edward made that sound again. Maybe he has gonorrhea. Can that affect guys in the throat?

"I can't talk right now, take a message," Bella said, turning her gaze to Edward, as if to comfort him.

"She's busy at the moment, may I take a message?" I asked.

"Who is this?" Jacob asked.

Did he have the right to ask who was acting as Bella's assistant? I guess. "Myren. I'm Bella's cousin."

"Oh! So you're the new Swan?"

"No."

"Oh… well tell her that tonight we're having a party, and to come. You can come too, if you want."

_Yeah right!_ "Okay, will do." I hung up then.

"They're having a party and you and I are invited," I told Bella. Feeling weird about Edward being there, I said, "I'm sure he meant Edward too."

"They didn't," Edward mumbled.

I just rolled my eyes at him.

"Did you want to go?" Bella asked.

I actually thought about it. Being the new kid in town sucks, it would nice to get the chance to meet some people. "Sure," I finally said.

"Well, I'll drive you, but I can't go. I'm going to hang out with Edward," Bella said.

_Your loss._ "Ok."

I ran upstairs and put on my black jacket. We then all three went outside to Bella's truck.


	3. Lame Beach Party

Apparently, the party wasn't even in Forks, but in some place called La Push. Is there a La Kick and a La Punch? I seriously need to come up with better material.

The drive there wasn't that long, thank God! It only took about ten minutes, so I didn't have to come up with some lame story or conversation to tell. I was also grateful that Edward only went outside with us to walk Bella out. He then went back into Charlie's to sit in Bella's room while she was dropping me off. He's a freak.

"So, you'll get along great with Jacob. He's so nice, but huge. Not fat, but muscular huge. All of his friends are," Bella was telling me. "You'll look anorexic compared to all of them."

_I look anorexic compared to you and Charlie too._ "Interesting."

We finally came up to a beach where I could see a bunch of people sitting around a bonfire. What a lame party! Where was all the beer? The dope? The drunken girls that want to have sex with everyone? The DJ?

"Here you go," Bella said.

"Thanks," I said. I started to open my door when something slammed into Bella's side of the truck.

I jumped, but Bella looked relaxed.

"Hey Jake," she said.

I looked over to see a large, tan, muscular guy standing outside of Bella's window.

"You made it!" he said.

"Yeah, but I can't stay. I'm just dropping Myren off," Bella said.

Jacob glanced at me and his hopeful expression turned to sad. Whatever, I was used to it.

"I'll act like Bella if you want," I said, trying to break the ice.

Jacob laughed. "Then you're going to have to fall down every five steps," he roared. I'm glad that worked.

I got out of the truck. "I'll call you when I want you to get me," I told Bella.

She nodded and drove off to be with that tanless freak. Couldn't he at least consider spray-tan?

Once Bella's truck was out of sight, I remembered that I didn't have my cell phone with me. Oh well, I'm sure Jacob has her number.

"Come on," Jacob said, "I'll show you around."

I followed the giant teenager. A buff guy and a skinny guy walking along-side one another. That was an odd sight to see. I always considered myself to be tall, but as I looked around at all the other guys here, I appeared to be the shortest one.

I was shown Leah (Hot!), Seth (Weird!), Sam (Creepy!), Quil (Pedo!), and Embry (Weird name!). Most of Jacob's friends were really weird. Why did he hang out with them? And why was a three-year-old hanging out with Quil?

I was about to ask Jacob to call Bella for me, but then someone tapped me on the shoulder.

I turned around and faced… a neck. I looked up to see a guy there. He didn't have as dark a tan as Jacob; he was actually rather pale, but not Edward-pale. His dirty-blond hair was cut short and flat, but he had the bangs sticking up into spikes. He almost had the same muscular-build as the rest of the guys, but his muscles didn't appear to be too developed, just toned. He just stared down at me smiling, his ice blue eyes staring down onto my face.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"I'm Derek," he said, holding out his large hand.

"Myren," I said, taking his with my small-looking hand.

"I haven't seen you around here," he said. "Did you just move here?"

"Yes, from Boston," I replied.

Jacob gave Derek a weird smile and walked away.

_Don't leave me with him!_ I just stood there with Derek for a while, in awkward silence.

"…uh. I'll see you around," I said and walked off to sit at the bonfire. I took a seat right next to Leah, and I hoped that she found the tall and skinny very appealing.

"Hey," she said warmly to me as I sat down.

"Hey," I said back. "Did you make this bonfire by yourself?" I suppose that it couldn't hurt to give her the impression that I think that she seems to be independent. I think girls like that.

"No," she said. "Jacob helped. That's why it looks so crappy."

We both laughed at her, kind of lame but funny, joke. It was awesome to have finally met someone worthy of my appearance! Everyone else was either a whack-job or a fatty. For about ten minutes we sat there talking about how great BoA's first English CD was, or how we can't wait to get our hands on Utada's new CD. I thought that I was the only one who listened to them!

"Head's up!" came a shout.

A popping sound was heard and I was shot with a soft mist. I turned and looked over at Leah who had a wet mark on the front of her jacket and a small piece of green rubber on her lap.

A water-balloon? They were having a water-balloon fight in the dark? That actually sounds like fun I have to admit.

Leah and I jumped out of our seats and took cover in the sand as a dozen of balloons came our way. I was grateful that Jacob got in our way. His big body acted as a gigantic shield.

"Here," Derek appeared out of nowhere and handed me a balloon.

Sweet! I got out of my hiding place and spotted Seth, not really paying that much attention to the direction I was in. I firmly planted my feet and brought my right hand back. It was going to be the perfect launch, hitting him right in the back of the head. I just have to-

I felt something hit my left side and realized that Jacob had planned some kind of sneak attack on me and Derek. Wow, for a weirdo, he's actually not that dumb. Derek launched a balloon and got him in the neck. "I got revenge for you," he said, giving me… a wink? Why did he wink at me? I shrugged it off and just guessed that he had something in his eye.

The water-balloon fight lasted for thirty minutes. I was completely soaked, especially after Embry shouted "Get the new guy!" I have to plan my revenge for him.

Soon people began to leave and it was just me, Derek, Jacob, Seth, and Sam. I wished that Leah had stayed, but then I heard that she had a boyfriend. Oh well, maybe there's someone at my new school that I can hang with.

"Let's have a dare contest," Seth suggested. We were all sitting by a miniature version of the bonfire.

"That's just the masculine version of 'Truth or Dare'," Jacob teased.

I didn't think that there was a masculine version. I never did like playing the game: I hated telling my secrets.

"Ok," Sam said. "Seth, I dare you to come back to the beach at four in the morning and pick up all the trash left over from the water-balloon fight."

"That sucks," Seth whined, already regretting having suggested this game. _Just let the seagulls eat it, what's the worst that can happen?_ "Fine then, Sam, I dare you to…" Seth took some time to think, "…prank call Emily."

I chuckled. There's nothing better than a good prank call. "Who's Emily?" I asked.

"Sam's fiancé," Derek said.

Sam looked pissed for a minute. He gave Seth a stare that had him shrinking into the sand, trying to disappear. "Or not," he said.

How lame is that? You can't back out of a dare! That's not how you play in a dare contest! You have to do whatever the person tells you to do, even if it's illegal! "I'll do it," I said, holding my hand out for a phone.

All four of the guys looked at me with a surprised expression. Sam had anger mixed in his though. "I need a phone," I said. I wasn't going to let someone like Sam intimidate me.

"No," Sam said. "Do something else."

I rolled my eyes and looked at Seth.

"Myren," he said. "I dare you to… swim out in the ocean and stay out there for five minutes."

Crap… I take back what I said earlier about the whole don't-back-out-of-a-dare thing. Sometimes it's okay to simply decline. "Uh…"

"Are you chicken?" Jacob asked.

"Hell no!" I snapped and took off my shoes. I took off my jacket and handed it to Derek to hold for me.

"You don't have to do this," he tried to say, but I cut him off and dashed to the ocean.

It wasn't that cold here. In Forks it was snowing, but here in La Push, it was just… cold. Besides, the sea is the warmest at night, I think.

I stepped into the water and realized that the sea is cold 24/7 around here.

"You're gonna drown!" Jacob taunted.

I continued to run out and actually began to swim once the water reached my waist. I used powerful strokes to pull me out farther into the water. I just hope that some rip-tide doesn't carry me off to Asia. I've always wanted to go, but not this way.

"Right there's good!" Seth shouted. The four of them were now at the edge of the water watching. "Your time begins… now!"

Okay, this wasn't so bad. My body was already adjusting to the water. Before I know it, five minutes would have passed and I'll be out of here. I now have time to think of a dare to make Jacob do. Maybe I'll have him run down in the town naked.

"Shark!" Jacob shouted.

I literally jumped in the water (how that's possible I don't know, considering I can't touch the ground). I screamed and began frantically kicking.

"Just kidding! Just kidding!" Jacob laughed, rolling on the ground.

That bastard. At least I didn't have to go pee anymore. "Good one," I said sarcastically, but remained in the water. I was going to win this dare contest.

Something then brushed against my leg. I decided to ignore it, guessing that it was just seaweed… with hair? I reached down and grabbed it, pulling up a boy's head.


	4. Talking to Derek  kinda

I looked at the head that I was holding. Maybe I was just holding some humanoid-fish. Yeah, that's such a common thing to find.

I felt myself being picked up and rushed over to the shore. "Myren! Are you okay?" Derek asked, setting me down on the sand. He knelt down right beside me.

I think he was asking if I was okay. I couldn't really hear anything right now. I just continued to stare at the decapitated head that I still had a grip on. The eyes were all clouded over, but it still seemed to be looking at me. The boy's face was gray and looked wrinkled, kind of like Samara's in _The Ring_; the part when she crawls out of the TV. I think I could see a small crab crawling in the hair. Gross…

Derek grabbed my hand and pried my fingers loose. Sam walked up and grabbed the head.

"Jacob," he said. "You should take Myren home."

"I'll do it," Derek said, already picking me up and walking to a parking lot that I didn't notice before. He walked up to a silver Mustang and put me in the passenger side. He even did my seatbelt for me.

It felt strange. I couldn't move, or I should say that I didn't _want _to move. I just stared down at my hands. I felt sick to my stomach. Was I going into some form of shock?

Derek got into the driver's seat. He didn't even bother to do his seatbelt. He started up the car and began to drive off. "Do you know the way?" he asked.

The way to what? I still just stared at my hands. They looked pale and smooth under the moonlight.

"Do you know the way to your uncle's house?" Derek asked again. "I need directions." Oh! Why didn't he say that earlier? And why didn't I pay attention to the way Bella drove? I had no idea how to get to Charlie's.

I think I shrugged. It felt like my shoulders moved, but not a great amount. I turned my hands over and… there was a hair from the head on it!

My heart began to beat loudly. Loud enough for Derek to hear, because he looked over to me and asked if I were alright.

"There's..." I tried to get it out, but I felt tired and extra lazy for some reason. What the hell was happening to me?

"Huh?"

"T-there's a…"

Derek pulled over to the side of the road. I wished that we weren't the only ones out on it, so that there could be witnesses if he turned out to be some psycho killer. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"THERE'S A HAIR ON ME!" I screamed. I flailed my arm around, trying to get the hair to fly off, but it stuck. I flung it so hard that it hit Derek's face, and I heard a pop.

Derek grabbed my arm. He gently took the hair off my hand and threw it out his open window. He then rolled the window back up, but still had a hold onto my arm. He looked at it and gave it a squeeze.

Pain shot all up through my hand and it throbbed. "What the hell are you doing?" I screamed, trying to yank my arm away, but he had a strong grip.

"It's not broken, just a sprained wrist," Derek said.

I calmed down a bit, but looked out the window to emphasize that I didn't appreciate him doing that. Why did he have to have a rock-hard head? Is that even normal?

"I'm going to ask you one more time," Derek said. "Do you know how to get to Charlie's house?"

I rolled my eyes. I was already regretting going to that stupid party in stupid La Push, meeting stupid Jacob and all of his stupid friends. "No!" I snapped. "I don't know! If I did, then I would've told you already!"

I snapped my head over to look at him. I saw that he looked… hurt? He looked at me, his blue eyes looking sad, sort of like a puppy's. He then glanced down at his hands (still holding my arm) as if he were shamed. "What's up with you?" I asked. I had absolutely no patience to deal with this big baby.

"I'm sorry," Derek said in the most pitiful voice ever. I think it even broke somewhere. Please don't let this dude cry.

I raised my eyebrow at him

"I'm so sorry Myren. I never wanted to upset you," he said. Then he grabbed my other arm and pulled me closer to him. "Please say that you forgive me."

The way I see it, I have two choices: 1). Forgive Derek and all is good, but then he might think that I'm interested in being his friend, or 2). Decline his apology and have him kill me right here, right now. He looks like he works out a lot. Just one swing of his muscular arm, and there goes my head. Maybe the head belonged to some boy that pissed him off a while ago. I like living.

"I forgive you," I said.

A big smile appeared on Derek's face and he took me into his body in a choking hug. "I'm so glad!" he exclaimed, sounding like he was going to cry with joy. Maybe he's just a guy that too intact with his emotions.

I felt my air getting cut off in the choking hug. "Can't…breathe!" I managed to get out.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" Derek said, letting go of me, but still keeping his grip on my arm. He then took off driving again.

After about two hours, we finally found Charlie's house. It was horrible! It was already three in the morning, so we couldn't stop anywhere and ask anyone for directions. I don't have my cell phone and Derek lost his. We eventually had to take each road that we came to, and if there was something we didn't recognize, we went back and took a different route. It was excruciating! Derek kept saying weird things, like asking me if I knew what i_mprint_ meant. I told him that I did and found nothing interesting about it. So what if I lied? It made him shut up and stop looking at me with weird expressions. However, not once did he ever let go of my arm. I guess that it was my way of thanking him for taking me home: getting to touch me. Everybody wants to do it.

When we drove up into the driveway, Charlie's police cruiser was gone. Maybe he had some emergency thing. Bella's truck was there. It made me feel a little more comfortable knowing that I wouldn't be all alone in the house for the first night. Even if it was with someone as lame as Bella.

"Maybe I should walk you in," Derek said. "Just to make sure you're alright."

I agreed. My legs did feel a little weak. If they gave out while I was walking upstairs, that would suck.

We both went inside and ran into Edward.

"Can I help you?" he asked coldly.

_Yeah, I'm selling Girl Scout cookies, want some? _"Um, I live here now," I reminded him. The way I saw it, he was a guest. Guests never insult people that live in the house that they're visiting, unless it's in their head.

"I know that, Bella's waiting for you upstairs," Edward said. He then made a gesture that showed that he wanted me to go up the stairs. "Who's this?" He pointed to Derek.

"That's Derek, he drove me," I said. I noticed that Derek gave Edward a cold stare. The both just stood in the doorway, having some sort of intense staring-contest. I think I saw Derek blink.

"That was nice of him," Edward said. "Make sure you thank him before he leaves."

Was Edward kicking Derek out of the house? That's so… weird. "Actually," I said, fed up with all of Edward's weirdness, "I invited him to stay over."

Edward fixed his cold gaze on me.

"I hope you don't mind," I smirked.

"Charlie said not to have anyone over while he's gone," Edward said, narrowing his eyes.

"You're here," I pointed out.

"But he knows me."

"I'll introduce Charlie to Derek when he gets home," I said. I then walked over to Derek and took his hand. I then led him upstairs. The truth was, I didn't want him to stay over, I just liked sticking it to Edward.

I walked into my room and sat down on my bed. Derek came and sat right beside me. "So..," he said. "What now?"

"I don't know," I responded. What was I going to do after I won? I didn't think that I would, so I had nothing.

"Hey, thanks for sticking up for me," Derek said. "I bet Edward's kind of annoying."

I snorted. "Kind of? I haven't even known him for twenty-four hours and already I want to strangle him."

Derek straightened up as if he heard something. He then smiled and relaxed. "So, where do I sleep?" he asked.

"Uh…" I thought it over. I really wanted to sleep in my bed, but I would be a horrible host if I made him sleep on the couch. "You can sleep in my bed. I'll take the couch." I wanted to kick myself for saying that. I hate the couch!

I heard the door close downstairs. I looked out my window and saw Edward and Bella getting into Bella's truck. Edward saw me and held up a long cylinder. "He's happy because he has… whipped cream?" I asked myself.

I went to my door and turned the knob. The door wouldn't budge. I pushed all my weight on it, but it still wouldn't move. Then I realized what had happened: Edward had sealed my door shut using that foam stuff that carpenters use. I was trapped in the room with Derek. "That son of a bitch," I muttered.

"What?" Derek asked, stretching out on my bed, taking up all of it.

"Edward sealed the door," I said, sitting down on the floor

Derek laughed. "We can just share the bed," he said. "I won't bite, hard."

"Are you gay or something?" I snapped. He was totally getting on my last nerves, which I seemed to be running out of lately.

"Yes," he said seriously.

"Oh," I said. I was just kidding when I asked, but I guess that curiosity killed the cat. I have no problem with gay people. If you're gay, then you're gay. Whatever you want to be, it doesn't matter; unless you want to be a pedophile like Quil. "That's cool."

"Can I tell you something else?" Derek asked, still using a serious tone.

_Do you have to? _"Sure."

"I'm a werewolf."


	5. Imprinting Sounds Stupid

Did I hear him correctly? Is it possible that I'm going deaf? Ha! Wouldn't that be odd? A blind boy with a deaf brother? "I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch you?" I said.

"I'm a werewolf," Derek said point-blankly.

Perhaps I am losing my hearing, or maybe he mumbles. I mean, he could've said "shareholder." Doesn't werewolf sound like shareholder a little bit?

"I'm not sure I understand," I said.

"Uh…," Derek took a while to think about how he was going to explain. I think he just popped some pills or something. "I have the ability to phase into the form of a wolf and back into a human anytime I want."

Okay, he did pop some pills. "Ok," I said, deciding that I would play along. "Isn't it that you can only turn into a wolf on a full moon?"

"No, I have the ability to do it whenever I want," Derek answered, seeming a little puzzled by the way I was asking questions in a calm voice.

That seemed like a valid enough answer. "Do you eat humans?" I asked. I remember I once saw this lame movie about werewolves, and this lady got mauled and eaten like a hotdog.

Derek laughed. "No, we protect them. I eat normal human-food, just a lot more quantities."

Okay, he was really good at this, perhaps he practiced earlier. "If you're supposed to protect humans," I said, "then why did you sprain my wrist?"

"You did that yourself, remember?" he said, even if a look of guilt came on his face.

"But I still got hurt around you, so you failed," I smirked. I won.

Derek looked even sadder now. "I'm so sorry about that," he said. Then he got off my bed and walked towards me. I immediately regretted having sat on the floor, leaning on the door because I had nowhere to go. He knelt down in front of me, his face only two inches from mine. He then grabbed my wrist and moved it a little. Odd enough, I felt no pain. "It was just sore," he said, a wide grin forming on his face.

I felt the urge to spit in his face, but something held me back. "Why are you telling me this?" I asked. Seriously, what was the point of this joke?

Derek's smile disappeared. "I thought you should know, because it'd make it a whole lot easier when I tell you this."

I still sat there. Maybe he was going to tell me that he had a crush on me. I mean, he already told me that he was gay.

"I imprinted on you," he said.

Huh? "What does that mean?" I asked. Was this some weird saying that they have in La Push that means something unimportant?

"Uh…" Derek looked down at his hands. This was great! While he wasn't looking, I could totally make a run for it! Since the door's sealed shut, I think I can jump out of the window. "It's kind of weird actually. I mean, usually you imprint on a girl, but I've heard that it's possible to do it with a guy, babies even…"

I do not like the sound of this. What is that you normally do with girls, but can sometimes do it with a guy or a baby? He isn't talking about sex is he? "Just say it," I ordered.

Derek sighed. "Okay, here it goes: It means that you're sort of like my soul mate, like we're meant to be. I'd do anything for you and I'd always love you no matter what. Love's kind of an understatement. It's like, I'm totally devoted to you, like an obsession, but not as scary…"

Derek lost me at the phrase "soul mate." This is great. I move to a new town and some gay dude becomes obsessed with me! Oh! And he claims to be a werewolf.

"…so yea. It's a great thing, really." Derek finally glanced back up at me, this time his eyes had some creepy longing-look in them.

"That's so…sweet?" I said, unsure if I should lie. I felt very disturbed by the entire thing. However, a little part of me inside was kind of touched that I had someone that deeply cared for me.

"It is," he agreed. He then took me into a big hug. I didn't hug him back. I didn't know if it were the right thing to do. I mean, it seemed weird.

"Prove it," I said, in a muffled voice, considering my face was pressed against his chest.

"What?" Derek asked, pulling me away.

"You said that you were a werewolf, prove it," I said.

"If that's what you want," Derek sighed. He got up and took off his pants.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I cried.

Derek chuckled. "When I phase, my clothes tear, so I'm taking them off that way I have them for later."

He can't be serious.

I closed my eyes. I heard Derek remove his shirt and boxers. I think he wasn't even wearing shoes, so maybe that's why I didn't hear him take those off. Then it was silent for a while, except for the sound of the floorboards creaking. Then I felt something wet on my face.

That bastard peed on me!

I opened my eyes so that I could get a perfect aim when I kick him in the- snout? I was face to face with a giant wolf. It had the same dirty blond color as did Derek. It stared at me with the same blue eyes that Derek had. It licked me, again.

Then it phased back into Derek. It was weird, one second I was looking at an overgrown wolf, and the next I'm looking at Derek. "Believe me now?" he smiled.

Unfortunately. "Yea," I murmured.

"I know it's a lot to take in, but trust me, it's worth it," Derek smiled that stupid smile that made me smile back. "Come on, let's get some sleep."

Derek got up and put his boxers back on. He then lay down on my bed and signaled for me to lie beside him. I hesitated, and when Derek saw this he said, "Edward sealed the door, there's no other place, and I want you to sleep in a nice warm bed. And there's no way I'm sleeping on the floor."

That douche probably knew that Edward was sealing the door! I grunted and lay beside Derek. He put his arm around me and pulled me in closer to his body. It was pretty warm close to his body; I guess it was good that it was below freezing outside. I relaxed my head on his rock hard chest.

"Just sleep Myren," Derek said. "I love you."

Whatever.


	6. Breaking Point

"Myren. Myren!" Derek whispered into my ear.

I grumbled and tuned him out. I didn't feel like waking up today, especially since it was my first day at a new school… in April! This sucked. It was bad enough having to be the new kid, but at the end of the year? What's the point of even going if I'm only going to be there for like a month?

I felt Derek get out of my bed. Finally! I rolled over and laid face-down spread out on my small bed. It was small enough to begin with, but when I shared it with Derek, I mostly laid on him and not the bed. Although he was kind of comfortable…

"Myren!" Derek shouted, actually waking me up this time.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "What?" I asked, a little piqued that my sleep was disturbed.

"It's time for you to get ready for school. Hurry up, I'll drive you," Derek said, opening the window. I half-expected sunlight to pour in and blind me, but since there were a lot of clouds, that wasn't a worry anymore.

"I don't wanna go to school!" I whined, laying back down and pulling the covers over my head. "Besides, the door's sealed, remember?"

Derek tore the covers away from me and put them on the floor. "I did, and that's why I got it unstuck." He gave me a smirk that made me want to punch him. "By the way, you drool."

"Liar!" I shouted.

Derek laughed. "It got all over my chest. I thought there was a leak in the roof or something." He then went downstairs. "Get dressed!"

I don't drool, that stupid fleabag, good for nothing-

"I heard Derek's driving you," Bella said, interrupting my train of thought.

"Uh, yeah." I said. I didn't really know what else to say, so I went to my dresser and pulled out some clean clothes. I got on some cargo shorts and a black T. I then put on my black hoodie. That's all I usually ever wear. I then grabbed my iPod and went to the bathroom to brush my teeth. I can never go outside without my teeth brushed, even if it's just to get the mail; it's like my OCD. I then went downstairs.

"It lives," Edward muttered.

I didn't even bother to come up with a comeback, I was too tired. Maybe I could get some sleep on the way there?

"You hungry?" Derek asked. "I can stop at a drive-though to get us, like, McDonald's or something?"

_I don't think McDonald's sells Kibbles 'N Bits. _I started to laugh at the little joke I made.

Edward laughed too for some reason. Maybe he looked in a mirror. "Okay," I agreed.

I grabbed my backpack, which only had a pen and a notebook in it, and followed Derek out the door. We both got in his car and he drove off. I still felt funny sitting next to him in the car; maybe this werewolf-thing is too much for me?

"What do you want?" Derek asked, already in the drive-through.

"Uh, a Number Three with an orange juice," I said.

Derek repeated what I said into the box and some scratchy, hard-to-decipher voice said something and Derek pulled forward. A lady opened the window and Derek gave her a credit card. Platinum! Maybe I can adjust to this werewolf-thing...

The lady then handed him two bags and Derek drove off.

"Two bags?" I asked, "What did you get?"

"I told you I eat a lot," Derek said, handing me my food.

I ate my food, watching Derek scarf down seven breakfast burgers. Where does he put it all? By the time I was half-way down with my food, Derek had finished his last burger.

"Do you want my hash-brown thing? I don't really like them," I offered. I figured if I won't eat it, maybe the Human-Trash Compactor will. Oh wait, the _Werewolf-_Trash Compactor.

"Thanks," Derek said, eating the whole thing in under six seconds.

We drove in silence for a while. The radio wasn't working, so I couldn't listen to any good music. Getting bored I turned to Derek. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Anything," Derek said. I had a feeling that when he said "anything," he meant that he'd do anything I asked him to. I did want a new TV.

"Why me?" I asked. "Why'd you imprint on me?"

Derek sighed. "I really don't know," he said. "We don't really have any control over it."

"Can a werewolf imprint on more than one person?" I asked.

"No, we're completely bound to one person," he responded, getting a little less tense.

"Am I allowed to tell anyone?" I asked. I don't know if I can keep this a secret. It's kind of big.

"You can tell Bella, and that's it," he said. "If you want to tell anyone else, just ask me and I'll give the okay or no."

I don't need his permission to do what I want! To Hell with my whole "Trying to Be Nice" conversation! "What happens if I get kidnapped?" I asked.

Derek got tense. "I'd find you and kill your captor."

"What if I got murdered?"

"I'd avenge you."

"What if I got raped?"

"I'd kill the person that raped you and I'd help you get through your emotional trauma."

"What if you can't find me?"

Derek was really tense now. I could hear the steering wheel being crushed in his powerful grip. His teeth were grinding together and every two seconds, he'd shoot a look at me as if to make sure I really wasn't kidnapped, murdered, or raped. I guess that werewolves don't like to talk about bad stuff happening to their imprints.

"I'd track you down," he said sternly.

"What if I died of some disease?" I asked.

"You won't, I'd take you to the best doctor in the world when you get that sick."

We pulled into the school parking lot. "Have a nice day," Derek said. "And please, be safe."

Ha! I scared him with my whole Bad-Things-Happening-to-Me conversation! "You don't go here?" I asked.

"No, I already graduated," he said.

For some reason, I felt saddened by that. Maybe I was sad that I couldn't torment him anymore? "What if someone brought a gun to school today?" I asked. "What if they shot it and I just happened to be in the way?"

"Enough!" Derek shouted.

I looked at him startled and wished that I had left the car already.

Derek locked the doors and undid his seat belt so that he could lean in closer to me. He even got out of his seat and literally leaned over mine, putting each hand on either side of me on the seat. He put his face two inches from mine. I could see that it had mixed emotions of sadness, anger, and compassion.

"Why don't you trust me?" he asked. His face was so close that even some spit got on my face. "You need to understand that I love you with some crazy obsessed twist. It's all new to me too, okay? But believe me when I say that I will always protect you and never let anything bad happen to you, got it?" His breathing was hard and I felt incredibly uncomfortable. "So how about you cut me some slack?"

I raised my eyebrow. Bad idea…

"That's what I'm talking about!" he shouted. How is no one in the parking lot noticing this? "You need an attitude adjustment and I'm going to give it to you. I mean, you act like you're the best thing to ever walk the earth, but in reality, you feel like crap deep inside because of all the pain you've caused others."

…ouch.

Derek got back into his seat. "Sorry Myren, but someone had to say it."

How did he know about all the pain I've caused people? About my mom, dad, uncle, sister, and brother? About how I'd ruined all their lives with just my birth? I'd ruined their lives so bad that they even sent me away to this crap-town where there's some stupid werewolf that likes to point out my faults.

I didn't know if they were real or not (I'd learned to fake it in the third grade, pretty well too. I should have gotten an Oscar), but tears began to form in my eyes. They even began to roll down my face. Why did Derek's words bother me so much?

"Myren, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you," Derek said, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't touch me!" I shouted, swiping his hand off.

I unlocked my door and got out of the car. I made sure to slam the door to emphasize how much he'd pissed me off. I began to walk in the direction all the other students were walking.

"Please forgive me Myren!" Derek called his voice thick and heavy. "I love you!"

I gave him the finger and walked into the office.


	7. Patrick, Rhett, and Revenge

I went into the office was greeted by some woman who apparently ate too many Twinkies.

"Myren Estrada?" she asked.

"Yes," I said, wondering how she knew my name.

"We've been waiting for you, here's your schedule," she passed me a pink paper. I looked over my classes. All of them seemed good except for French. I don't know French! I know Spanish and English, but none of those are French!

"Is there a problem?" the receptionist asked when she noticed that I didn't leave.

"Yes," I said. "I don't know French."

"That's why you're taking the class, to learn."

"I already took two years of Spanish."

"Well, now you can know three languages. Now hurry on to your first class," the receptionist waved me away.

_And you should hurry to your second job at SeaWorld. Okay, Shamu? _I went to my first class: Geometry.

"Good morning Mr. Estrada! Welcome to Forks High School," the teacher, Mr. Hayne (I want to say?) said "Why don't you introduce yourself to the class?"

_Jerk. _I stepped to the front of the class and had all eyes on me. It probably wouldn't be that hard. It seemed like there was only eighteen kids in the class. "Um, I'm Myren. I just moved here and I-"

"Just say something about you," Mr. Hayne said.

I thought about it. "-I like long walks on the beach and hate introducing myself in front of classes," I said, glaring at my shocked teacher.

"Just, uh, sit down," he said, turning to write something on the chalkboard.

I sat down next to some weird kid that seemed like he hadn't brushed his hair this morning. It seemed as if his hair was caught in a lawn mower. I breathed in through my nose and immediately regretted it. The guy must've never heard of soap! He stunk of sweat and barbecue sauce! That's a horrible stench! His face had really bad acne, so bad that at first, I thought that big, red and bumpy was his original skin type. He opened his mouth to chew on his pen, and I saw his rows of teeth that looked like candy corn, they hadn't been brushed at all! He was wearing a white hoodie that had a big red stain on the front, most likely from ketchup. He turned his head to look at me. "I'm Patrick," he said, breathing his foul, skunk breath on me.

I held my breath. "Myren."

"If you need help getting to your next class, just tell me," he said. _Why am I attracting all the freaks in town?_

"Okay," I said. I wound up accepting his offer because I practically knew absolutely no one here, except for Bella and Edward, but I didn't want to know them. I guess a freak for a friend is better than no friend at all.

It was finally lunch time! I wound up forgetting money, so I just decided that I'd eat when I get home. I ended up sitting with Patrick, at the opposite end of the cafeteria than Edward and Bella. I had no idea that Edward had brothers and sisters! They all need some sunlight.

"-and that's why I hate rap," Patrick finished saying.

A piece of spit flung on my nose when he said "rap." I just nodded, faking interest. Then some guy came and sat next to Patrick. He was one of those tall and handsome people you see in those magazines. I think I've even seen him on an Abercrombie & Fitch bag.

"Who's this?" he asked pointing at me.

"That's my new friend Myren," Patrick answered.

Ew, he called me his friend. "Oh," the guy said. "I'm Rhett, Patrick's boyfriend."

"Nice to meet you." Did he just say what I think he said? Boyfriend? Patrick's boyfriend?

"Same here."

They ate for a while. Rhett asked how Patrick's day was and vice versa. It was kind of gross. It reminded me of one of those really old couples that you see on those male-enhancement commercials. Seriously, why get old people to advertise sex? That's just wrong!

"So have you ever been to La Push?" Rhett asked me.

I looked up at him from watching my thumbs bend up and down. "Yes."

"Heard it's pretty dangerous there."

"Why?" I asked.

"Didn't you hear about that head that was found there by some girl?"

_I'm a boy you jack-ass! _"Yes I did."

"Well I heard that the victim asked for it."

"Really?" I really wasn't paying that much attention. I began to make faces at Bella who was making them back. At least she kept me entertained.

"Yeah, I heard that he was known for being a bully. He kept annoying the hell out of one kid and then that kid snapped and killed him."

"Wow."

"Yep, just goes to show that you should always be polite to everybody. You never know who will get you."

What was this? Some crappy campfire story? "Interesting."

Some guy walked up behind Patrick and Rhett. He then took a bowl of soup (or at least I thought it was soup) and dumped it over Patrick's head.

"Freak!" he shouted and ran off.

I watched the slimy goo, so-called soup, ran down Patrick's head and onto his lap. Much of it stayed in his hair and was stuck in streaks on his face. Maybe they poured gravy on him. I covered my mouth with my hand to hide my smile.

"I hate Tom so much," Patrick growled. "I want him dead." He then got up and went into the bathroom to wash up. He should probably brush his teeth while he's in there.

Rhett looked up at me and I couldn't hold it in.

I burst out laughing. I grabbed my sides and had to rest my head on the table.

"It's not funny!" he shouted.

I immediately stopped and looked up at him.

"Don't you ever make fun of Patrick, do you hear me?" he got up to my face. "If you hurt him, I'll frickin' kill you." He then stormed off.

Why the hell is everybody getting mad at me today? First Derek and now Rhett? I seriously need to hang out with better people.

Edward drove me home after school. I didn't even see Derek's car in the parking lot.

Good, I didn't want him to apologize to me anyway.

I entered the house and sat on the sofa. Bella came and sat right next to me.

"I see you and Patrick are friends," she said.

"It's for community service," I muttered.

Edward chuckled. "He is a freak," he said.

_I guess it takes one to know one._ "Why do you say that?" I asked.

Edward walked away, so Bella told me. "Well, he's always talking to himself and his boyfriend Rhett about how they're going to kill some students. I think I was once put on the list for denying signing their petition for some lame thing. But Edward helped sort it out. Anyway, the whole school is kind of afraid that they're going to like, shoot up the place one day."

"Why do I always make friends with freaks?" I whined.

"Derek seems nice," Bella said, trying to comfort me.

"I guess," I said.

"Even considering the fact that he's a werewolf?"

I straightened up. "How'd you know?" I asked. Was she spying on me?

"Most of the guys at that party you went to were werewolves," she said calmly, like it was nothing.

"Well, he imprinted on me."

"I know. I could see it in the way he looked at you. His eyes were full of compassion, and even fear. I don't know why fear."

"Well, I sucked all the compassion out of him," I said.

Bella raised her eyebrow.

"We kind of had a fight and I think he canceled his imprint thing."

Bella laughed. "Sorry Myren, imprinting can't be canceled, no matter what. You're stuck with him."

I sighed.

Edward then walked back into the room. "Ready to go?" he asked Bella.

"Yea," she said getting up. "Tell Charlie I'll be back before nine."

"Yea." I said, turning to the TV. I wonder what's on.

"Derek's number is in the kitchen," Edward said before he left the house with Bella at his side.

I sighed again, louder this time. I guess I'll call Derek and give him a chance to say he's sorry for calling me a brat. He didn't say those exact words, but I know that it's what he meant. You know what? Screw it! If someone thinks that I'm a spoiled brat, then they obviously don't want me that bad.

I went upstairs and into my room.

I laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "Stupid Derek, calling me spoiled…" I grumbled. Then I got an idea!

I'll fake my death! Derek will feel so bad that he made me mad and that he didn't bother to try to see me again to apologize that he'll go insane!

I ran downstairs into the kitchen and grabbed the phone and the paper with his number on it. I then ran back up to room and sat on my bed. I dialed the number.

I waited for like, half a second and Derek answered it.

"Myren?" his voice called. "Is that you?"

"No, it's Bella," I said, making my voice seem higher. "Sorry if you can't hear me well, I think I caught something."

"Oh, how's Myren?" Derek asked, totally falling for my trick.

"You might want to sit down when I tell you this."

"Why? What happened? Is he still mad at me?"

"Why was he mad at you?"

Derek's breathing got heavy. "I said something that hurt him. I feel so awful. I just want him to know that I'm sorry and I'll never do it again." He started to cry.

I can't believe it! I hadn't even gotten to the prank and he's already crying.

"Well," I said, my voice still disguised. "There was an accident."

Derek was silent.

"Are you still there?

"What happened?" he demanded, his voice sounding assertive. Odd, I saw him as more of the push-over type.

It took me a second to think. "Well, uh, he was walking home from school today. I thought you were going to drive him, and I was home already and so was Edward, so he had no ride. Anyway, the road was very icy, and a car ran into him. His body slid along the ice until it went under a big rig. A big rig! I heard his head popped; like a balloon!"

"Myren's dead," Derek said in a flat voice. I thought he would've been crying.

"Yeah, the funeral's next Saturday. Want to come?"

"…Myren's dead."

"Yes. Again, do you want to go to his funeral?"

Derek screamed into the phone. It was a blood-curdling scream that almost broke my eardrum. He ran out of breath and inhaled. Then he continued to scream some more. Maybe I took this too far.

"Uh, gottcha?" I said in my regular voice.

The screaming stopped and Derek began to breathe all hard again. "Myren, where are you?"

He sounded mad. At least he wasn't screaming anymore. "Where am I? You mean, like, right now?" I asked. I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell him. He might come over with Patrick and Rhett and shoot up the place.

"Where. Are. You?" he asked again, sounding out every word, as if he were trying not to scream again.

"Why? Are you-"

"JUST TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE!" he screamed.

"I'm at Charlie's house. Where else would I be?"

Derek hung up. That did not sound good.

I went downstairs to hang up the phone and turn on the TV. I started to watch American Dad, but then the doorbell rang. As if I didn't know who it was.

I turned off the TV and walked over the door. I looked through the peephole and saw- Jacob?

I opened the door. "Jake, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Look Myren, I'm sorry about this," he said.

"What?"

He took out a cloth from behind his back and held up to my face. I could smell some foul fumes and I soon passed out.

That bastard!


	8. More Real

I opened my eyes and saw nothing but darkness. I tried to move my head around, but I was so groggy that I couldn't even lift it up. "Uhhh…" I tried to call out to someone, but it didn't work out.

Then a light turned on. I saw that I was lying on a very comfortable queen-sized bed. It appeared that that was the only piece of furniture in the tiny room, besides a portable DVD player in the corner of the room, sitting on a stack of phonebooks.

"You awake now?" Derek asked. He was sitting on the end of the bed.

"Wha…?" I found it very hard to do anything but breathe.

"I'm sorry I had to do it this way," Derek said. "I got Jake to drug you with chloroform. It should wear off in a couple minutes."

I just continued to lay there. I mean, I wasn't able to do anything else.

"Listen," Derek said, laying down right next me, face to face. "I'm so sorry that I hurt you this morning. I promise you that I will never do anything to hurt you. I love you."

I couldn't help it, but I smiled. I wish that I wasn't so groggy, that way I could make up an excuse to cover up my happiness for receiving his apology.

Derek's apologetic face turned serious then. "Now about what you did," he said, "that wasn't a funny joke."

"Sorreh…eh…" I tried to say sorry.

Derek continued. "It's never a joke when our imprint gets hurt, so I'm going to only tell you this once: don't ever fake your death again."

I chuckled.

Derek smiled then. "You're so cute," he said, and kissed my nose.

I turned all red. Maybe it was because these covers and pillows on the bed were giving me a rash.

"So then," Derek said, "because you like to play those kinds of games, I have to punish you."

I raised my eyebrow.

Derek laughed. "No, not like that. I mean, like you're kind of grounded."

"What?" I shouted. Hm, I guess I just needed to feel motivated to move and speak.

Derek smiled. "Like, you're grounded."

"What does that mean?"

"Haven't you ever been grounded before?"

"Well, yea, but I don't get why you're grounding me. And I don't get how you can."

Derek sighed. "You know Myren, some people would've grasped this by now."

I groaned. I could tell that this was going to be boring.

Derek continued: "Since you lied and faked your death, I have to make sure that you never do that again. You see, we want our imprints to be as safe as possible. So, that being said, I've grounded you. That means that I will drive you to and from school and I will have to monitor you at all times."

"…what?"

"Like, you should ask me if it's alright when you want to go out, although I'll most likely say no."

I can't believe what this mutt is saying! I might as well just check myself into some prison! He should check into a mental institute. "Charlie doesn't like people over unannounced," I said.

Derek smiled. Why'd he just do that? I told him that Charlie basically wouldn't allow him to monitor me.

"Charlie's away on a thing for the rest of the week," Derek said. "You're staying here with me."

I scoffed. "Liar."

Derek scoffed back. "Nope. I'm being 100% sincere."

For some odd reason that I couldn't explain, I felt happy that I was getting to spend the rest of the week with Derek at his house. "Can you give me a tour?" I asked.

"Uh," Derek said. "This is it. I rent a room in Jacob's house."

"…oh." That sucks. I wonder why he doesn't have a house of his own, or at least an apartment. "Why is that?"

Derek sat upright. "Long story," he said.

"I've got nowhere to go, remember?" It was obvious that this story bothered him on some level. I figured that the sooner I found out what it was, then the sooner I could feel more comfortable around him. He tells me a secret, and I'll tell him one of mine.

Derek sighed and stood up. He rubbed his face in his hands. "You really want to know?" he asked me.

I nodded.

He sighed and sat against the door. He reached up and locked it. "Okay," he agreed. "I'll tell."

I straightened up and took the covers off me. It was starting to get a little warm. I was actually surprised to see all my clothes still on me.

Derek began. "It all started three years ago. I had just moved here from Chicago and was pretty pissed about it. That year kind of sucked. My parents had another baby, a girl, Katie was her name, and they worshipped her. I guess that I was too used to being the only child, so I began to hate Katie.

"Anyways, I started a new school, over at Forks High School. There I met this one guy that was so handsome. However, it turned out that he sort of loved someone else, a lot. It turned out that he was a werewolf who had imprinted on the girl.

"Well, I not knowing that at first, decided to get her out of the picture. I gave her a fake note and said that it was from the guy telling her that he no longer wished to be with her. Well, she cried and lashed out at the guy who was shocked because he had no idea what was happening. I have to admit, it was pretty entertaining, I mean, she threw her biology textbook at him! He didn't seem phased, physically I mean. But I was able to see the pain and hurt in his eyes.

"So in the end, she ran off and he followed, but she got in her car and drove away. He was left at the school, so I offered him a ride to his house. However, he gave me the directions to the girl's house; I think her name was Nikki? And the guy's was Steven. So anyway, Steven ran into her house and tried to apologize to her, but Nikki was so pissed. She began to scream for help so I ran into the house to see what was happening.

"It turned out that Nikki was upstairs in her room when Steven had come in to apologize. She tried to run out of her house. However, Steven tried to grab her, but had missed and accidentally pushed her. She fell down the stairs.

"You should've seen it. Steven, crying hysterically holding Nikki's dead body. It was horrible. Well, word got out that I had started the fight with my fake note, and Steven went psycho. I went home after school and saw my family dead. My mother, father, and Katie.

"Jacob's father took me in after that. I never heard from Steven again. I think Embry said that he had run off to New York to be with Nikki's sister. Not that it could ever be the same, maybe just friends with benefits."

"…that's intense," I said once Derek had finished.

Derek sighed. "Yeah." He then came and laid down next to me and wrapped me in his arms.

"It just goes to say, don't ever bother a werewolf's imprint," he said.

I nodded. I was suddenly beginning to feel more close to Derek. He felt… more real.


	9. Whatever, I Do What I Want!

The rest of the week fell into some kind of routine.

Every morning at six I woke up and took a shower. Derek was nice enough to let me shower and get dressed without him in the room. Then at seven we'd go to some drive-through and then on the way to school. I'd go through all my classes and have to fake interest in all of Patrick and Rhett's lame stories. Then Derek would pick me up and drive me to his/Jacob's house. I'd do my homework, or pretend to. I'd just stash some papers under Derek's bed when he wasn't looking. Then Derek would make me dinner. Since we were both HORRIBLE cooks, we just ate microwave-meals. Then we'd watch some movie on the portable DVD player and I'd fall asleep, using him as a pillow. Now it was Saturday and I looking forward to just sleeping in and doing nothing all day!

"Myren, wake up," Derek said as he gently shook me.

I glanced at my iPod's clock: 6:45am.

"Dude!" I whined. "It's Saturday! I wanna sleep in!"

"You did. You got forty-five extra minutes. Now get up, I have to go patrol the area, so you have to go home."

"Patrol?"

Derek grabbed the covers and ripped them away from me. "Yes, there's a little problem going on and I have to secure the area."

"Are you a cop?"

"Not really." Then Derek threw some clothes at me. "Get dressed. We have to be out of here in five minutes." Then he left the room.

I sighed and got dressed. I was actually kind of sad to be going. Now I wouldn't be able to spend that much time with Derek. On the other hand, I'll be able to finally sleep in and stay awake past ten thirty, which was my bedtime on school nights, thanks to Derek.

I walked out of the room and into the living room where Derek was sitting on the couch with Jacob. "Ready?" he asked when he saw me.

I nodded.

Derek got up and took my hand, leading me outside to the car. When he had started driving, I couldn't keep quiet anymore.

"Why do you need to patrol the area?" I asked.

"I told you," he answered. "There's something wrong going on."

"What's wrong?"

"Sam didn't give me all the details, just the basics."

"What did he tell you?"

Derek sighed. "There's been some murders going on and it's said that they're being caused by a werewolf."

That part caught me off guard. "Why would a werewolf be killing people?" I asked.

Derek shrugged. "Maybe someone was bothering their imprint. I don't know. Just be careful and don't go anywhere near the forest, okay?"

"I live in front of a forest," I said. "My house is in Forks! The whole town is just a forest with buildings in it!"

"Then stay inside this weekend, please." Derek turned to face me with a puppy-dog look in his eyes.

Nice try Derek. You may have a cute little desperate face on, but I want to hang out with some people this weekend. Maybe I could hang out with Patrick and Rhett? I know that they're kind of weird, but they did talk to me when I was the new kid, so I guess that I owe them something. Maybe-

"Myren!" Derek shouted, interrupting my thoughts. "Promise me that you will stay inside this weekend!"

I looked out the window and saw that Derek had just pulled into the driveway at Charlie's house. I opened the door and stepped out of the car.

"Wait!" Derek called.

I turned around and saw that he was already out of the car and standing in front of me.

"Promise that you'll stay inside," he ordered through his teeth.

"Can't I just have Bella around or something?" I asked. I at least wanted to have some social life in Forks.

"No," Derek said, sounding a little mad now. He gripped my shoulders with both his hands. "Promise!"

I crossed my fingers behind my back. "I promise," I said.

Derek brought me into a big hug. "Thank you," he said. Then he kissed my forehead and went back into his car and drove off.

I smiled to myself knowing that I was going to have a lot of fun this weekend. Then I walked inside the house.

I walked into the kitchen and saw on the counter… my cell phone! I ran to the counter

and picked it up and held it to my chest. It's amazing how you don't realize how dependent you are to a piece of machinery until it's gone.

I called up Rhett and Patrick to see if they wanted to hang out. They agreed and I was to meet them at the movies in an hour. We were going to see some new slasher movie that was said to be very scary. I hope it's one of those scary movies that terrifies me. Then when Derek sees how scared I am, then he'll never leave me to go on that stupid patrol thing ever again!-

What am I thinking? I should be happy to get a break from being suffocated by some werewolf obsessed with me!

Soon I was all ready to go the movies. The only problem was, I needed a ride. I didn't have my license and Derek was gone, so I had absolutely no way of going to the movies. I couldn't ask one of the other werewolves to drive me because then they'd tell Derek that I went out. I couldn't ask Edward or Bella because Edward's weird and they're not here.

Maybe I could walk. I looked outside and saw that it was raining.

That idea was gone.

Then I saw Bella's red pickup truck.

I probably should've thought that through, but I wanted to be gone before Bella got back home and saw me taking her truck.

I ran upstairs to her room and grabbed her keys. I then dashed out of the house and into the truck. It was now dark outside. I hope that the werewolf that's been killing people is asleep now.

I started the truck and had to make a circle in the driveway to get out of the road because I didn't know how to put the truck in reverse. Then I drove down the road toward the movies.

I hate to admit that I really scared taking Bella's truck. I didn't care if she caught me, I just didn't want that killer werewolf to catch me. Every ten seconds or so, I found myself looking in the rearview mirrors to make sure that I wasn't being followed. The road however, was empty besides me.

Getting tired of being scared, I turned on the radio and listened to some music. Utada's Come Back To Me was on and I turned it up as loud as it could go. Then I reached a part of the road that went down at an angle. At the bottom of the drop was a sharp turn to the left and straight in front of that was a big piece of the forest.

It seemed very scary, seeing the forest get bigger as I drove in the direction of it. I kept seeing in my head a big werewolf jumping out and grabbing me and pulling me out of the windshield. Then it'd gnaw on my torso until I stopped screaming and then it'd eat me. I shook that thought from my head and pressed on the brake to slow done, but nothing happened.

I slammed my foot on the brake this time, but the truck kept going, it actually sped up a little. I was going to crash into the forest and then the werewolf would be able to find me!

Why didn't I just listen to Derek?

I kept pressing down on the brake and hoped to God that it would magically start working. Then God answered my prayers.

I took my foot off the clutch and stepped down on the real brake.

The truck came to a gradual stop and I turned left. I think that whole brake situation is something to be kept a secret. I don't want to seem dumb.

After ten more minutes of driving and worrying about being eaten, I reached the movies. I made sure to park near the back in the shadows so that people didn't see that I had Bella's truck. I knew that word got around fast here.

I got out of the truck and walked up towards the entrance where I saw Rhett and Patrick already there.

"What's up?" Patrick asked me, holding out his fist.

I reluctantly pounded it and bought my ticket.

We all then walked inside and bought popcorn and drinks and went into our theatre. We sat in the back row, Rhett in the middle. He had his arm around Patrick and they were both sharing an extra large popcorn and drink. I guess they eat a lot, but where do they put it?

The movie turned out to suck! It was about some boy who went crazy because all these kids at school kept teasing him. Then the boy started dating the janitor and they killed all the kids who kept teasing the boy. Then the boy drowned in a pool and the janitor kept killing the kids, but only on a rainy day because he thought that since there was a lot of water around that the boy's spirit was around or something! I thought that the boy needed to get over his issues and the janitor needed to be fired for having a sexual interest in students!

Rhett and Patrick loved it though. They said that they thought that it was enjoyable seeing the boy seek his revenge.

Then we all exited the theatre.

"You should come over to our apartment," Patrick said to me.

"You guys have an apartment?" I asked.

"Yeah," Rhett answered. "Patrick moved in with me after a month of dating. It's a really nice place. You should see it."

"Okay," I agreed. I wanted to get this weekend done and over with. So I decided that I'll fill it up with a lot of stuff to do that way I'm never bored. Boy was I wrong!

Rhett and Patrick's apartment was so lame! It had little action figures of superheroes I never even heard of and posters of some bands from the UK that had too much eye liner on!

We mostly just sat on the couch and watched reruns of_ Family Guy_. I then looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was already 1:26 in the morning.

"Crap!" I shouted as I leapt off the couch.

"What's wrong?" Rhett asked.

"It's 1:26! In the a.m.! I'm so grounded." Either Charlie made it home and just went to bed while Bella spent the night at Edward's, or they both made it home and realized that I stole the truck.

"Were you supposed to be home at certain time?"

"I wasn't even supposed to be out!"

"You are so grounded," Patrick giggled.

I just rolled my eyes at him. "I better get going."

"Why don't you just crash here? It's way late," Rhett offered.

That did make sense. Why not wait to drive until the morning that way you could see any psycho werewolf that might want to eat you? However, I didn't know when Derek's patrol ended.

"That's nice of you," I said, "but I have to return my cousin's truck before she finds out that I borrowed it."

"You stole it?"

"I guess you can say that."

"You're funny Myren," Patrick laughed.

"I'm glad I entertain you. But I have to go now, so I'll see you guys later if I don't get murdered." I then ran out of their apartment and to the truck. I began to drive when I saw that the truck was running low on gas. Stupid Bella forgot to fill it up yesterday! Maybe I can make it home…

Ten minutes later the truck came to a stop.

I was now an hour's walking distance from both Rhett and Patrick's apartment and Charlie's house. It was pitch black outside. At least the headlights were still- never mind, they just went out, leaving me all alone in the dark.

Now the werewolf can come and get me without difficulty. At least it stopped raining.

I can either wait here to be eaten or run home and maybe make it. How would I explain the truck? I think there's a gas station about twenty minutes away from here. I can run there, get like a gallon in those containers and run back. If the werewolf tries to attack me, I'll scream like hell.

I hopped out of the truck and immediately started sprinting alongside the road. If I kept up with this pace, I should make it to the gas station in fifteen minutes flat.

After two minutes of sprinting, I had to stop to catch my breath. I wound up walking. I figure I should save my energy for having to carry the gas back to the truck.

Then I heard something behind me.

I turned around to see a pair of headlights. Thank God! Maybe I can hitch a ride with this person to the gas station!

As the vehicle got closer I stuck my thumb out.

The yellow Ferrari came to a stop in front of me. This is awesome! I get to ride a Ferrari!

I ran over to the passenger side and got in. "Thank you so much for stopping," I immediately said as I sat down.

"No problem," said the driver.

The driver was a very pale and attractive girl that kind of gave off the appearance of a pixie.

"I'm Myren," I said.

"I know who you are," said the driver. "I'm Alice, Edward's sister."

That sucks. Now instead of spending time with weirdo Edward, I have to take a ride from the other Cullen freak. "That's nice. Uh, I need gas," I said. "I ran out a few minutes ago."

"No problem," Alice replied and sped off (very fast) down the road.

It took only three minutes to reach the gas station. Alice bought the gas much to my delight. I wanted to save my money for the season 1 box set of Trueblood. I love that show! She then drove me back to Bella's truck and even put the gas in for me.

When she all done she walked back over to her Ferrari.

"Uh, do I pay you or something?" I asked.

"No it's okay," Alice said. "Just make sure that you get home with the next thirty minutes. That's when Bella and Edward will be back. And Charlie's having an all-nighter at his office." Then she drove off.

How helpful is that little Cullen freak? She's my favorite so far.

I drove the truck back to the house. I made it! I snuck out, had a great time, and the only consequence was having that car trouble.

I walked inside and went up to my room. Right when I stepped through the door, I was grabbed and thrown onto the bed. I heard the door being slammed and locked.

I tried to get off the bed and run, but I was held down. Someone was holding down my arms and sitting on my legs.

"You promised!" Derek shouted.

I opened my eyes to see Derek's very pissed off expression. "Uh…no?" I quivered.

Derek said the next few words through clenched teeth. "I thought I told you to stay inside."

"I did. I was in the basement."

"You don't have a basement!"

"Kitchen?"

"Myren!" Derek yelled. I shut up and listened to what he had to say. "Not only did you break your promise and disobey me, but you also stole Bella's truck! You don't have a license! What it had run out of gas or-" Derek stopped mid-sentence and began to sniff me. Then he got even more pissed off.

"You accepted a ride from a BLOODSUCKER!" he screamed. I'm surprised that the windows didn't shatter.

"No," I said. "I got one from Edward's sister, Alice. I ran out of gas and started walking. Then I saw a car coming, so I decided to hitch-hike and-"

"You were going to hitch-hike?" Derek screamed again.

"It was either that or get attacked by that werewolf."

"Or you could've listened to me!"

"I'm sorry," I murmured.

Derek just stared at me, he was breathing really hard. "Come on," he finally said, picking me up and swinging me over his shoulder.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"You're coming back to my house," replied Derek. "It's obvious that you don't know how to stay safe, so I'm going to have to continue to constantly monitor you."

Derek shoved me into the passenger seat of his car and we took off towards his house.

I smiled to myself knowing that my plan had worked: I had made it so that I would be by Derek's side for a while longer.


	10. I think I Love You

Derek wouldn't talk to me for the whole drive to La Push. On occasion he would glance at me with his piercing blue eyes. Maybe it was a bad idea to steal Bella's truck and attempt to hitch-hike. At least I wasn't attacked by some psycho werewolf, unless Derek counted.

I chuckled at that last thought.

Derek shot me another cold glance, tightening his grip on the steering wheel.

Then we finally pulled into the driveway to Jacob/Derek's house, ending the most uncomfortable car ride of my life. Derek came and opened my door. He then pulled me out by my arm and swung me over his shoulder. He then headed towards the house.

"I can walk," I said. Derek's breathing was very heavy. Either I was heavy or he was still pissed off.

"No," Derek said between his teeth. "Knowing you, you might try to run off."

I can't believe he would think that I'd do something like that! Well, actually he kind of does have a point. I have been a pretty horrible imprint. "I promise I won't," I said.

Derek paused and he stood right in front of the door to the house. "I-I don't believe you," he said in a shaky voice.

Ouch! That hurt.

Derek then set me down on my feet and grabbed a hold of my shoulders. He then lowered his face so that our noses touched. I knew that Derek wouldn't do anything to hurt me, but it was still a little frightening seeing him this way. His face was wearing angry, hurt, sad. At least Jacob was inside and I could yell for his help if things went bad.

"Why do you hate me?" Derek asked, tears starting to pour down his face. "I love you."

I just stared back into his now red and puffy eyes. "I-I don't," I stammered.

Derek looked saddened even more. "You don't love me?" he asked, sounding as if his heart broke.

I thought this over for a while. I found myself realizing that I do in fact love this guy standing right in front of me. The very thought of never being able to see him again made a lump grow in my throat and made my breathing get hard. "I-," I stopped myself and thought again.

Usually when I loved someone, they totally didn't want it. Was it truly different with Derek? When I had once told Uncle Henry I loved him (like how relatives should love one another) he just rolled his eyes. I think that Derek wouldn't do that.

"I do," I said. "I do love you… I think."

"You think?" Derek asked me, sounding a little calmer, but he still had great pain in his voice.

How could I explain this one? "Well, I'm not sure what love is exactly," I said. "However, when I'm around you, I feel so secure, but I'm also scared."

"You shouldn't be scared. I can protect you."

"No… I'm scared of you."

Derek looked even more saddened again. "You should know that I'll never hurt you."

"No," I said again. "I'm scared that you'll see how… horrible I am. I mean, my own father didn't want me and my uncle even sent me away. I'm scared that once you see the real me, you'll hate me." Then that stupid lump in my throat somehow got bigger and tears, real tears, started to fall from my eyes.

"I could never hate you," Derek said, pulling me into his chest. He even began to rub my back. "I love you."

"I love you too," I whispered.

Derek then lifted up my face so that I faced him again. I think I know where this is going.

He then smashed his lips down on mine. It didn't come that much as a shock to me, until he forced his tongue into my mouth. I'll admit it, this was my first kiss ever. I've never kissed any of my past girlfriends because one was fat and might have eaten my tongue, one had stinky breath, and the other didn't believe in kissing until after a year of dating.

We both stood on the porch kissing until the rain began to fall.

"Let's go inside," Derek said as he opened the door. He led me to his room. I laid down the bed and fell asleep in his arms.


	11. The List

Bella had told me that being watched all the time was a real downer. Shut up Bella! If you had even a single idea about what it's like to have your life threatened, then you'd understand that being guarded is about the best idea ever!

Derek had less time to spend with me now since most of his spare time was devoted to patrolling the area to search for the rogue werewolf.

I walked into the cafeteria and took my usual spot with Rhett and Patrick.

"Hey Myren!" Patrick exclaimed when he saw me. "Did you hear the good news?"

_Did you finally decide to use a toothbrush?_ I shook my head.

"You remember that guy Tom? The one that spilt gravy on me?"

I fought back to hide a smile. That was the greatest! "Yea."

"Well, he was found dead in his house last night!"

"How is that good news?" I asked.

"I hated Tom," Patrick said. "He was a jerk. He deserved to die."

"Only you felt that way," I said. "The only person he was rude to was you." I didn't know, or really care about, Tom, but I didn't think that it was right for someone to die, no matter how horrible they were.

"And now he's dead," Rhett said. 'Now he won't be able to bother my Patrick anymore."

I looked up at Rhett who was giving Patrick a look completely full of compassion. It had the same compassion I'd seen when Derek looks at me, when Sam said Emily's name, and when Edward…

Holy crap!

I've only seen that look when a werewolf had imprinted on someone. That only meant one thing: Edward imprinted on Bella!

I shot a glance at Edward, who for some reason was looking at me with a smirk. Edward's a werewolf! I knew it! How else would Bella be so close to the La Push werewolves? I originally thought that it was because Jacob imprinted on her, but now I realize that it is Edward! I knew it!

"How did Tom die?" I asked, making sure that Rhett and Patrick couldn't tell that I was having an epiphany.

"He was found with his arms ripped off," Rhett said matter-of-factly.

"Murder?"

"Yep!"

The bell rang to signify that lunch was over.

I got up and began making my way to my next class when Rhett stopped me.

"Myren, after school, meet me under the bleachers. Me and Patrick have something to show you."

"Sure," I said. Derek wasn't picking me up today. It was Bella's day to drive me.

I went on to English and took my seat next to Mike Newton, who is perhaps the lamest person on the planet. Even if yesterday he earned some cool points for tripping Patrick in the hall.

The sub stood in front of the class reading the schedule that our teacher had left for him. "Uh, start reading chapter 4 of _Lord of the Flies_."

I took out my book and began to read Chapter 1. I hadn't began the book yet. I should hurry and start before Derek finds out though. Seriously, he treats me like a kid when it comes to school.

A police officer came into the class. "I need to speak to Mike Newton and Myren Estrada," he said.

Mike and I stood up and left the room with the officer. He led us into the office.

He turned to me. "Stay here and we'll call you in once we're done with Mr. Newton."

I sat down in the receptionist's and watched Mike and the officer go into the principal's office.

I took out my phone and began to text Derek: "_**The police took me 2 the office.**_"

It took only three seconds for Derek to respond. "_**Y?**_"

"_**idk**_"

"_**Im coming 2 get u**_"

"_**k**_"

"_**be safe. Luv u!**_"

I put my phone away before the receptionist could see.

Mike exited the office and sat down next to me.

"What's up?" I asked.

Mike looked really shaken up. His color was gone and his bottom lip was trembling.

"Mike?"

He glanced at me. "We're gonna die," he said.

I raised my eyebrow. "Ok," I said.

"Myren," the officer said.

I took a deep breath and stood up leaving Loser to sit trembling by himself. I entered the office and saw the principal and Charlie in there. The principal was sitting in his chair at his desk looking at a paper. Charlie was looking at the same piece of paper that the principal was.

"Myren Estrada," the principal, Mr. Greene, said. "This is Officer Burke, and you already know Chief Swan." Mr. Greene chuckled at saying that I know Charlie.

"Yea?"

Charlie spoke up this time. "Myren, you're familiar with Tom Brookes right?"

"I knew him, but not personally," I said.

"Well then, you're aware that he was murdered last night?"

"Yea."

"And you know that within the last month there have been a total of four murders?"

"No."

"Two have been students here at Forks High School," Officer Burke cut in. "One a student at the high school on the reservation and the other a student from Seattle."

"That sucks," I said, "but why am I here?"

Mr. Greene answered that question for me. "We found this," he said handing me the piece of paper he was holding.

I looked over and it read:

_Violet Hamilton -dead_

_Darren Peterson_

_Emily Young_

_Kristen Herel -dead_

_Nathan Frankle -dead_

_Jessica Stanley_

_Tom Brookes -dead_

_Myren Estrada_

_Mike Newton_

_Bella Swan_

"What is it?" I asked.

"A hit-list," Officer Burke answered.

"Huh?"

"The names crossed out on that list, are the four people who have been murdered in the past month."

"Are you sure it's not just a coincidence?" I asked. "Besides, where'd you get that?"

"We found it in a trash can in a French class. And this is no joke Myren," Charlie said. "Is there any reason somebody would want you dead?"

"None that come to the top of my head."_ Besides the fact that I make fun of people on a regular basis._

"Myren, we're asking you to stay home for the remainder of the week until we get this thing settled out," Mr. Greene said.

"But it's Tuesday," I said. "What about my work?"

"You'll be excused from all the work that you'll miss."

Well, if the principal doesn't want me at school, who am I to say that's wrong?

"Just finish up your classes for the day, unless Chief Swan wants to take you now?"

"No, he should finish up the school day," Charlie said.

"Notify us if you hear anything," Officer Burke told me as he handed me a slip of paper.

"This is a copy of the list," he said. "Make sure you stay safe." I put the paper in my pocket and exited the office.

I began to walk back to my English class when I saw Edward in the hallway. I had seen that Bella's name was on the list. Should I tell him?

_I know Bella's gonna be killed soon_, I said in my head. Yea, that sounds like the perfect way to tell a werewolf that their imprint is on a hit-list.

He'll find out eventually, I'll just hurry on to class-

"Myren," Edward called after me.

I turned around and was already face to face with him.

"Why were you in the office?" he asked.

"It's personal," I said. I then turned around to walk away, but Edward grabbed onto to my arm with his ice cold hand and slammed me into the lockers.

"What was it?" He asked through his teeth.

"I'm on a hit-list, and so is Bella." How did he know that my recent visit to the office had involved Bella in some way?

Edward let me go and he stormed off into some direction, most likely Bella's next class.

I walked out into the front of the school to meet Derek.

Out in the parking lot, I could see Rhett and Patrick arguing about something. Wow! America's cutest gay couple are having their first fight? This I HAVE to see!

I walked out of the school and up to the parking lot. I could see Derek's car starting to pull into the parking lot. I hurried so that I could at least get the jest of the argument.

Rhett stopped screaming at Patrick when he saw Derek's car. Derek had also stopped driving and the two of them had a minute long stare-down.

Then Rhett jumped up in the air and phased into a wolf in the direction of Derek's car.

"Holy shit!" I shouted. Rhett's a werewolf! That must mean that Patrick is his imprint!

Derek accelerated his car and sped forward, underneath Rhett's lunge. Rhett crashed into a blue minivan. Derek's car kept going forward until it took out Patrick.

Patrick stuck to the front of the car until Derek smashed it into Bella's red pickup.

I heard screams of pain and agony come from Patrick as he stayed pinned between the two vehicles. Rhett phased back into a human, but was frozen with fear as blood began to spurt from his imprint's mouth and run down his legs.

"Somebody help me!" Patrick screamed.

Derek backed up the car and drove in my direction. I saw Patrick drop to the ground, his torso flat, and a few broken ribs sticking out of his skin.

Derek spun the car so that the passenger door was right in front of me. "Get in!" he yelled.

"Patrick!" Rhett screamed in agony as he ran over to Patrick's lifeless body. He picked up the body and began to run into the dense forest.

I got in the car and Derek sped off towards La Push.

* * *

Okay, so I know that the police wouldn't actually show a civilian an actual hit-list that had had theirs and others' names on it. I also know that they wouldn't give them a copy of said list, so chillax and don't think I'm stupid please!


	12. Emily Looks Gross

I just sat in the car in complete silence. So much was going through my head right now:

1). Edward is a werewolf and has imprinted on Bella.

2). I'm on a hit-list.

3). Bella's on the same hit-list.

4). Rhett's a werewolf and has imprinted on Patrick.

5). Derek just killed Patrick.

6). I gotta get Crystal Kay's new single!

"Myren? Are you alright?" Derek asked me.

We had just crossed the boundary line into La Push. We were now speeding in some unknown direction.

"We're going to Sam's house so that we can sort this out," he said. "Just tell me, did you know that Patrick was Rhett's imprint?"

I shook my head. "I didn't even know that Rhett is a werewolf," I said. "I know Edward is, but not Rhett."

"What?"

"I didn't know that Rhett was a werewolf."

"No, about Edward."

"That he's a werewolf?"

Derek exhaled sharply. "He wishes," he said. "Edward's a vampire."

Vampires are real too? Damn! Does Forks and La Push have like all the Halloween monsters living within the city limits? Am I going to meet a mummy and a witch? "Did he imprint on Bella?"

"Vampires don't imprint. Just be extra careful around Edward. He can read minds."

Damn! "Oh. Then I kind of already pissed him off."

"Myren!"

"Sorry."

Derek pulled into a driveway in front of a nice looking house. Then he turned to me.

"Myren," he said sharply. "Do not, I repeat, DO NOT make fun of Emily."

"Who?" I asked.

"She's Sam's imprint. Sam lost control around her and now she has scars on her face."

I chuckled. "Does she look Two-Face?"

"Myren!" Derek screamed, grabbing my face and lowering his towards it. "Just don't say a word inside, alright?"

"Okay," I said.

Derek let me go and we got out of the car and walked up to the door. Derek rang the door bell and Sam answered.

"Hey," he simply said. "Just take a seat in the living room, we're about to start the meeting."

The both of us entered the small house (or maybe it only looked small with nine werewolves in it) and went to the living room. I was seated next to Derek and Seth. Derek put his arm around me, but I remained sitting up straight.

Sam stepped into the room. I looked around at all the people present: Sam, Quil, Embry, Jacob, Seth, Jared, Paul, Leah, Kim, Derek, and me.

"Let's start the meeting," Sam said as he stood right in front of the three couches that were all full of the nine werewolves and the two imprints.

"Did anyone need anything before we begin?" a girl asked as she entered the room from where was most likely the kitchen.

Derek squeezed my shoulder. I think that this girl must be the infamous Emily.

She looked at me and smiled. "You must be Myren," she said. "I'm Emily."

I looked at her face. It was so pretty, well at the half that wasn't all scarred and deformed was. I just sat there staring at her deformed face. "Nice to meet you," I mumbled.

Derek nudged my shoulder, making me lose my trance I was in over Emily's scars.

Sam cleared his throat and shot me a cold glare. I just rolled my eyes._ If you didn't want people staring, then you shouldn't have sliced her up._

"So as I was saying," Sam said, "we've got a major problem. Four murders have taken place by a werewolf in the area in the last month."

"It was that freak Rhett," Paul interjected. I still found it hard to believe that it was Rhett who was killing everyone. He seemed so nice and peaceful.

Derek cleared his throat. "Just a few minutes ago, I…" He trailed off, as if ashamed to say that he murdered Patrick.

Everyone else in the room just sat there waiting for him to complete the statement.

"…I killed his imprint, Patrick."

To my surprise, no one seemed at all effected. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure that no one at school (except Rhett) would care that he was dead.

"I had to," Derek went on, "Rhett was going to kill Myren."

"What?" I asked as I shot up from my seat.

"He wanted to kill you after school," Jacob clarified.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked Derek. "This all could've been avoided if you told me. I could've stayed away from him at school and Patrick might even still be alive and I might not be on the list."

"What list?" Sam asked.

Derek looked down at his hands. "I was trying to protect you," he whimpered.

"Well you failed!" I shouted.

"Enough!" Sam shouted. "Myren, we should've told you, but you're not dead, so shut up. And Derek, inform your imprint on whether or not they're hanging out with a potentially dangerous person!"

I sat back down and let Derek put his arm back around me. "I'm sorry," he whispered into my ear.

I just shrugged.

"Myren," Sam continued, clearly annoyed by mine and Derek's argument, "tell us more about the list."

"What list?"

"The one you said you were on."

Oh! I completely forgot. I took the paper out of my pocket. "Uh, the police discovered this hit-list in a French class," I said. "It reads off some people that are hunted or had already died, like it has on here Violet Hamilton, Kristen Herel, Nathan Frankle, and Tom Brookes have died."

"Yea, those sound familiar," Seth said. "Violet was suffocated in the forest, Kristen was mauled beyond recognition, Nathan's decapitated head was found in the ocean, and Tom had his arms ripped off."

Nerd!

"Was it Rhett and Patrick who made up that list?" Kim asked. I was shocked to hear her speak. Usually, she only speaks to Jared.

"Most likely," Sam said. "Those two have always caused trouble, besides I've seen Rhett making a hit-list before, and those four people were on it. Luckily Emily tore it up and told him it was stupid to do such things, although it didn't help that much."

"Who else is on the list?" Leah asked me.

I looked at the paper. "Darren Peterson," I said.

"That guy goes to Forks High," Derek said. "He would always slam the door on Patrick's locker when he was there."

The next name was kind of smudged, so I skipped it for now. "Jessica Stanley."

"Can't we just let her die?" laughed Paul. "She's so annoying!"

Everyone laughed, but Sam who let out a growl. Then the room was silent.

"Me," I said.

"Big shock," Embry said under his breath.

I just rolled my eyes. "Mike Newton."

"Probably couldn't keep his mouth shut," Seth said.

I glanced over at Jacob. I felt a bit of difficulty saying the next name on the list. I knew that Bella was Edward's girlfriend, but I also knew that Jacob loved her. "There's, uh, Bella."

Jacob shot out of his chair. "Rhett's a dead man!" he screamed.

"Jacob calm down," Leah said in a monotone voice. She was probably used to him overreacting when it came to Bella.

"But he's gonna kill her!"

"Not yet, we have time."

I looked back at the name I had skipped and squinted my eyes to read it better. Once I did,

I glanced over at Emily. "Hey Emily," I said.

"Yes?" she answered.

"What's your last name?"

"Uley."

I sighed with relief. "There, that's good. Now Sam won't have to worry."

"Why?" Sam asked, raising his eyebrow.

I turned to face him. "Because, the Emily on this list is Emily Young, not Emily Uley."

"Emily Young is Emily Uley! She changed her name!" Sam shouted.

Oops. I leaned closer to Derek.

"We have to stop Rhett!" Sam said, a little more crazed this time. "Until we do, keep an eye on your imprints and make sure that they are under a constant state of watch."

After the meeting, I went over to Derek's house where I went to my usual spot on the bed.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Alright," I replied. "Are you sure it's safe to be here? I mean, Rhett knows that I'm here most of the time."

"Don't worry Myren, you're perfectly safe."

I rested my head on Derek's chest, knowing that he would do his best to protect me: his imprint.


	13. The Stranger

I woke up in Derek's bed. I glanced around and noticed that he was gone and had left a note. I picked it up and read it:

_Myren, I had to go out to the grocery store to pick up some things. It should only only take 15 minutes at u! Derek_

I slowly got up out of the bed and made my way to the kitchen. I walked over to the cupboards and after checking three of them, was able to put together a bowl, spoon, and some cereal. I then went to the fridge and took out some milk. Everything in the house was bought in bulk size. Why did Derek need to go the grocery store so early? It was only seven in the morning! I poured my cereal and went to the couch to watch some TV while I ate.

I couldn't find the remote and I didn't know how to turn on the TV without it, so I just sat in the peace and quiet while I ate.

Jacob came downstairs, barely awake.

"What are you doing up so early?" he asked me, yawning and stretching.

"It's Wednesday," I said. "It feels like I should be getting ready for school."

"Seems like a valid excuse." Jacob sat down next to me on the couch and pulled the remote out from under the cushion. "I put it there to hide it from Paul," he smiled.

_And me apparently._

Jake put on some weird show that I couldn't really get into. Why couldn't we just watch MTV or VH1? Those channels always have something good to watch.

"Jake," I said, disrupting the hypnotic effects the TV had on him.

"Yea?"

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

Jake sighed. "Go ahead."

I knew that this would be a difficult thing for him to answer, but it's been bothering me for a long time; at least five minutes! "You really care a lot about Bella, don't you?"

"How could you tell?" Jake chuckled, but I could see the wanting in his eyes.

"Why didn't you just imprint on her?"

"It doesn't work that way Myren. We can't control who we imprint on. Like, how it was for Leah and Sam."

"I thought that Sam imprinted on Emily, not Leah," I said.

Jake nodded. "He did. But Sam was dating Leah before he knew Emily. Then the moment he saw Emily, Leah didn't matter as much to him anymore. It was all about Emily."

"That sucks for Leah."

"Yea. Another example is with you and Derek."

I sat up a little bit. "Did he have a girlfriend?" I asked.

"No," Jake replied. "He was always gay. However, before you moved here, he was in a lot of trouble."

"I know," I said. "Derek told me about how he caused a werewolf to kill it's own imprint."

"No that's not it," Jake said. "He was... not the best person to be around."

Will the drama never end with mine and Derek's relationship? "What do you mean?"

"Like, he was sort of, a horrible boyfriend. Like, he could've gone to jail if his behavior continued."

"What'd he do?"

"He would act abusive towards his previous boyfriends. Luckily, they were all smart enough to leave as soon as they saw this, but I thought that he would be destined to be alone if he continued to act this way."

"Are you sure we're talking about the same Derek? I've never seen him act anything besides nice and pathetic."

"It's the same Derek," Jake said, "at least it is on the outside. When he imprinted on you, he changed into a totally different person. He doesn't want to act abusive towards you. He told me that because he said that you already seem freaked enough to find out that he was a werewolf, but an abusive boyfriend? He changed his attitude completely to make you feel safe around him. All because of the imprint-thing. If it wasn't for you, he'd still be the same boyfriend-beating bastard."

Wow. So imprinting really is beyond a werewolf's control about how they use it, who they do it on, and how it changes them.

"Then, Jake," I said, "why pursue Bella when you're just going to imprint on someone else?"

"It's not that easy, imprinting is supposed to be really rare and usually never happen.."

That's all that's been happening in La Push.

The doorbell rang.

"That's probably Derek," Jake said. "He most likely forgot his key again."

Jake got off the couch and went up to the door. He took off the chain-link lock and opened the door. "How can I help you?" I heard him ask. It obviously wasn't Derek. Thank God Jake was shirtless right now that way the person at the door can see how much muscle he has. Very intimidating.

"Hello," the person at the door said. "I'm Steven, and I'm doing a door-to-door survey on how the residents of La Push are feeling about the endangerment of the Olympic wolves in the area."

I got off the couch and walked over behind Jake. At least I slept in a T-shirt and pajama pants that were both just black, so I wouldn't have to be embarrassed of being seen in them. The person at the door had the same build as Jacob and the rest of the pack. He had a very scary face, with green eyes that seemed to kill as they looked at you. He had Derek's complexion, pale. I think he should've had long hair, not a crew-cut, it would've made him scarier.

"I'm sorry," Jake said, "I'm busy at the moment."

"What about him?" the guy pointed at me.

"Um, just let them die," I shrugged.

"You know," the guy said, "for an imprint, you seem to hate wolves."

"Myren, go upstairs," Jake told me.

I turned and went in the direction of the stairs when I heard a big crashing. I turned around to see that Jake and Steven had phased into wolves and were fighting in the living room. I ran towards the back door and made it outside. I began to run in the snow barefoot, wishing that I had just stayed and watched the fight.

Then I heard puffing noises behind me. I turned to see a large wolf running after me. It wasn't Jake, Steven, or Derek. Who was it? Rhett!

I took off now at a faster pace and ran in the direction of the forest behind Jake's house. If I made it in the forest, then I could climb a tree and just wait up there until someone came to rescue me. Wolves can't climb trees, right? I made it to the first tree of the forest.

"Sam! Leah! Seth! Quil! Embry! Jared! Paul! Derek!" I yelled, hoping that someone would hear.

I jumped in the air and landed on the tree and I began to climb. It was only fifteen feet tall, and it had no leaves, but it could work.

Branch after branch I made it higher to the top of the tree. When I had reached the top, I sat on a branch and looked down at Rhett still on the snowy ground.

Rhett then phased back into a human. He stood there naked and shouted at me, "Sooner or later you have to come down."

"Sooner or later your penis is going to shrivel from the cold. Oh shit! It already did!" I shouted back. I then smirked, proud that even in the face of danger, I can destroy someone's pride.

Rhett growled.

"I bet even Patrick was more hung than you! But that doesn't matter now because no one can do a dead man!"

Rhett screamed and began to climb up the tree at a rapid pace. Maybe I should've been a little nicer to my murderer.

Rhett reached for my left leg, but I kicked his head and he fell a few branches down. He then started to climb back up.

The way I saw it, there was only one thing to do: Jump! I leapt out of the tree and began falling back to the ground. Maybe if I made it out far enough, I could make it back to Jake's house. I hit the ground and the wind left my body. I laid there for a while and then got back up. I took off towards Jake's house.

Then Rhett caught me and pulled me into his body.

"Don't pull me into your naked body! Freak!" I yelled.

Rhett hit me over the head with his fist and I blacked out.

Crap...


	14. Steven

I began to regain consciousness.

Where was I?

Or more importantly: what just happened?

My eyesight was still blurry, but I could tell that I was inside somewhere due to the heat. All I could see, or think I see, are khaki walls. I also see what looks like a sliding glass door.

Wherever I am, I'm sure that I don't want to stay here for very long.

I tried with all my strength to get up from what I think is a couch due to the feel of it.

It was so hard.

I felt as if my body had been sewn onto the couch. I could barely move. Soon, I realized that I have not been sewn to the couch, but instead tied to it with yellow rope that dug into my body every time I tried to move just the tiniest bit.

I considered calling for help, but then I remembered that it was Rhett and Steven's fault that I was in this stupid situation. I shut my mouth and tried to think of a way to break the ropes.

I tried to lower my head to where I thought they were closest to my face, but I had no luck at all. I wasn't even able to chew on my shirt. I am out of shape…

My eyesight was now restored to its normal views.

It turned out that I was in someone's living room. I was on a red velvet couch and that was set at the far side facing the sliding glass door. Directly in front of the couch was a wooden chair. There was a white carpet under all the furniture in the living room. I could barely see a wide-screen TV to the far left of the wooden chair on the khaki wall. Besides that, the room was empty.

I looked outside the sliding glass door. It was still daylight. It was also snowing. I could see a naked tree, but that was it. No other houses, no fences, no people.

I struggled against the ropes to see if I could break them. I once saw on this movie, this guy was tied up in these ropes and he just flexed and then they tore into shreds, letting him walk free. Apparently, Hollywood lies! Who would've known?

"Stop that thrashing, you'll hurt yourself," Steven said as he entered the room.

I stopped moving and gave him the stink-eye. "Why the hell am I tied up in some weird house?" I asked.

Steven smiled. "You've got a mouth don't you?"

"Yea, and arms and legs. So how about you untie me?"

"Nope." Steven went and sat on the chair that was in front of the couch.

I sighed. "Then would you mind telling me what I'm doing here, please." I made sure to use "please" to try to convince Steven that I'm really a nice person deep down inside and that I can be trusted with secrets and being untied.

"No."

That bitch! As soon as he unties me I'm going to kick his ass! I just laid on the couch and stared back at him. This gave me a great time to really see what Steven looked like. He looked like he was around the age of twenty-two, or somewhere around there. He had dirty blonde hair that was long enough to just cover most of his ears. That's strange, it looked a lot shorter yesterday. Around his ears, I was able to spot some gray hairs, maybe he was stressed about something. His bangs were combed to the right side of face. His skin was very pale and looked like it had not seen sunlight in a couple of years. He was wearing a light-gray tank-top that showed me that he had rather good arm strength and that he shaved them. That or they were blonde. I think he shaved them because I could a little stubble on his chin. He was also wearing tight blue-jeans and no shoes.

"You want a picture?" Steven asked, as soon as he noticed that I was studying him.

"What a waste of ink and paper."

Steven smirked. "Aren't you going to ask me where Rhett is?"

"No, I'm sure you're going to tell me anyway."

"Would you like to know?"

"Sure."

"Rhett was just a pawn."

"What?" I asked, stunned by what he said.

"I had this thing I needed to take care of and the only way I could do that was if I used Rhett."

"What did you make him do?"

"Put you on the list."

I had been wondering why I was on the list. I thought that I was his and Patrick's friend. "Why?"

Steven smiled an evil smile. "I convinced him that his imprint Patrick was starting to fall for you and begin to lose interest in him."

"That's cold, but effective."

"Exactly, Rhett went crazy."

"Since Rhett realized that he would have trouble getting to you, he decided to save you for later by putting you on the hit-list he and Patrick had. They were killing people before I made it here. I originally came to stop them, you know, the whole 'Protect Humans' thing. However, I learned that they were killing people who were being mean to Patrick.

"As soon as I found that out, I came up with my whole plan-"

"Wait!" I interrupted. "I thought that you didn't want me to know why I was here."

"Just ignore that I said that," Steven said, annoyed. "I'm on a roll, so you're going to hear it. Just think of it as your final request.

"So as I was saying, I came up with my whole plan. The first thing I needed to do was find out where Derek lived and that one was easy. Then I found out that he had imprinted on you. I then told Rhett that lie and soon your name was on that hit-list.

"Then just to make sure that it wasn't obvious that you were the only real target, I got Rhett to add Bella and Emily to the list. The others were placed on there by Rhett for some reason, I have no idea what goes on in that loser's head. Then that also led to Sam's misjudgment: having his precious Emily in danger made him just come to a conclusion without thinking. Right now he's at his house, refusing to leave and just having him and Emily stay in the basement.

"The same goes for the others: Quil's watching Claire, Jared's watching Kim, and Jacob's watching Bella."

"But Jacob didn't imprint on Bella," I said.

"Well he can still watch her," Steven said, clearly angry that I interrupted his story again. "He loves her. And that's bad for you too. That only leaves Paul, Embry, Seth, Leah, and Derek.

"Paul and Embry are just totally worthless without the leadership of Sam. Seth and Leah are too busy arguing and looking out for each other. And Derek, he thinks you're dead."

"What?" I shouted.

"I made some fake pictures," Steven smiled. "You see, Darren Peterson looks a lot like you with his jaw ripped off. Rhett only had to dress him up in your clothes and die his hair brown. I have to say, those pictures did look pretty realistic. You never notice how a jaw can distinguish someone from another until it's ripped off…"

"How's Derek?" I asked.

"That's a real stupid question," Steven scoffed. "How do you think a werewolf feels once their imprint dies?"

"Bad?"

"Damn right!" Steven screamed. He then leapt out of the chair and knelt down so that his face was in my face. "When my Nikki died, the world ended for me! Nothing mattered to me. I didn't care if I died the next day, minute or second! All I could focus on was avenging her!"

Steven? Nikki? Suddenly it clicked! Derek was the one who caused Steven, this Steven, to kill his imprint, Nikki!

"But you killed Nikki," I said. "You pushed her, causing her to fall down the stairs-"

"Shut up!" Steven screamed. He leapt up and grabbed my lower jaw. "Maybe I should really tear your jaw off for real. Now listen to me: I didn't kill Nikki! I it was all Derek's fault!" He let go of my jaw and went to sit back on the chair.

He sat there, staring at his hands. "Sorry I lost my temper with you," he whispered.

"If want to get revenge for Nikki, then why didn't you kill Derek?" I asked. That didn't mean that I wanted Derek dead, I was just wondering why I was kidnapped.

"Because," Steven said, "I wanted him to feel the pain I felt when my imprint died."

"Then why am I still alive?" I really hope that question doesn't turn out to be some "Curiosity Killed The Cat" shit.

Steven didn't answer me, he still sat there.

"What happened to Rhett?" I asked.

"I killed him," Steven answered. "Just shot him in the head. He probably wanted to die anyway, I mean, the whole thing with Patrick…"

"Why'd you kill him?"

"He lost his use and couldn't follow my commands."

"Like what?"

Steven paused and exhaled sharply. "He hurt you," he said.

"Excuse me?"

"Myren," Steven said as he crawled off the chair and back towards me. "I didn't think a thing like this was even possible, I mean, it has never happened before."

I just laid there, wishing that Derek would just burst through the door and save me from this crazy place.

"Myren," Steven said again, a tear running down his cheek. "I think I imprinted on you."


	15. VCard

"What did you just say?" I asked. I'm pretty sure that I heard Steven say that he had imprinted on me, but then again, I'm not sure. Can't you only imprint once?

"Myren, I imprinted on you," Steven said, leaning closer to me.

I scoffed. "Okay," I said. "Look Steven, I already know that you imprinted on Nikki."

"Me too, that's why I don't understand this at all."

"But Derek imprinted on me."

"I know that too!"

"This is a really crappy joke. You obviously didn't think this one through."

"It's not a joke," Steven said, his face now directly in front of mine. "I don't understand it either. I know that I had imprinted on Nikki and she was my world. However, the first time I saw you, you were at school. I saw you while you were in your Spanish class.

"At first, you didn't spark my interest at all and I wanted you dead. However, when I found out that Rhett had actually wanted to kill you, I got so... mad. I couldn't believe the way I was feeling at first. I thought that maybe I just wanted to kill you myself. Then I saw you again and at that moment, I realized that I didn't want you dead, but with me."

"I don't get it," I said.

"Well, you see. Since I imprinted on you, that means that I don't ever want you to die," Steven explained. "So I secretly told myself that I would protect you from any harm. Rhett had wanted to kill you, so that's why he had to die."

"Makes sense."

"Not really. This shouldn't be happening. I imprinted on Nikki, she died, Derek imprinted on you, and now I imprinted on you."

"Maybe your want for revenge is such a powerful emotion that you're mistaking it for love?" I have to say, that was about that wisest thing I ever said.

"That's not it," Steven said, still so close that our noses were touching. "I feel the same way about you, if not stronger, than I did about Nikki. I remember the pain I went through when Nikki died, so then I decided that I wouldn't let you leave me and the smartest way I could do that was to make everyone think you were dead. That way, I can keep you here in my house all to myself." I could see straight into Steven's eyes, seeing the want and need in them. Uh-oh, he really did imprint on me.

"I thought you were dating Nikki's sister," I said.

"Nikki doesn't have a sister, she was an only child."

"Oh. Well I already accepted the fact that Derek had imprinted on me and therefore as your new imprint, I command you to release me. Now."

Steven chuckled, a fake one. I could tell that he didn't think I was funny.

"You're not going anywhere Myren," he said. "As I said earlier: you're staying here with me."

That sucks. "Can you at least untie me?" I asked. "These ropes are really starting to hurt me." I made sure to look as if I was in pain. Knowing how Derek reacts to when I'm in pain, this should be guaranteed that Steven will untie me.

"Fine," Steven sighed. Carefully, he pulled on the ropes at the knot and they became untied.

I sat up on the couch and stretched out my arms.

"Is that better?" Steven asked.

"Very, thank you," I said, running my hand up and down Steven's muscular arm. I figured that if I make him think that I'd fallen for him, then he'd be willing to let me have more freedom, which would allow me to escape.

"It's no problem," Steven replied, sitting on the couch and putting his arm around me and pulling me closer to him. "Now can I ask you a personal question?"

I thought it over. "That depends," I said. "What do you want to know?"

"Just answer truthfully," Steven said. He was beginning to feel a little sweaty now. Perhaps he was embarrassed by the question? "Did you and Derek ever... you know?"

"What?"

"Have sex?"

"No," I said. "I'm a virgin."

"Good," Steven sighed with relief. "Then I'll be your first."

"What?" I shot up out of the couch.

"I'll be the first person you have sex with," Steven said calmly. "I've already done it, with Nikki. So I'll be the more experienced and most likely dominant."

"I'm sorry, I can't do this," I said. I began to walk off in the hall and found the bathroom. I went inside and closed the door.

"I know this is a lot to take in," Steven said from outside the room. "Just come out when you're ready. I'll give you all the time you need."

I sat on the sink and looked around the bathroom. There was no window. I usually hate bathrooms that have windows, but right now, I would really love to have one.

I think I stayed in there for two hours, just sitting on the sink, thinking up ways I could escape. My best plan was to fake an injury, like a broken leg. Then Steven would take me to the hospital and I could tell the doctor that I was kidnapped.

My other plan, Plan B, is to just sneak out of the house when he's asleep or on patrol. Does he still have to do patrol?

Then my absolute final Plan, Plan D (I couldn't think up enough plans and I forgot Plan C) is to just take off running in the living room and throw myself into the sliding glass door. If I gain enough speed, then I'd be able to crash through the glass, cutting myself up, which should attract a vampire. Then the vampire will come (hopefully it's Edward) and they'd help me out. I highly doubt this one will work, so that's why I'm saving this one for last.

I walked over to the toilet and made myself throw up.

"Myren, are you okay? I hear you vomiting," Steven said, not even a second after I began to barf.

"I feel sick!" I whined. "Take me to the hospital. I think it's a virus."

"I studied medical in college, if you get hurt or anything, I can just fix you up here." Well there went Plan A.

"I feel better," I grumbled. I walked over to the sink and rinsed out my mouth and washed my hands. I then unlocked the door-

Steven burst into the bathroom and took me into his arms.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

I could only mutter a few grunts, considering my face was shoved in his chest.

"Are you ready?" he asked.

I managed to get my face out of his chest. "For what?" I asked.

"Your first."

I was shocked beyond recognition. I thought he said that I could have all the time I needed! "No."

"I'm sorry Myren," Steven said. "It's just that I know that you still have feelings for Derek. I think that if we do it, then you'd see how perfect we'd be together."

Steven picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. He then began to walk into the bedroom. He closed the door and threw me on the bed.

It was very similar to Derek's room, the fact that the bed was only piece of furniture in the room. However, the bed was a twin size!

Steven took of his shirt and got onto the bed and pulled me closer to him.

I closed my eyes.


	16. Chores and Tattoos

You know those anime shows where like someone rapes another person, and the rape victim falls in love with the rapist? Well, it's all a bunch of crap!

Steven had said that once we had sex that I would fall for him. Well, it's been exactly eight hours and I only feel hatred towards him. I never wanted my first time to be with someone I had known for less than a day!

I was now laying in bed with Steven. I had managed to get my clothes back on, however, he insisted on sleeping nude. He also insisted on spooning me!

It was pitch black in the room right now. I figured that it was around five in the morning. The sun should be coming up soon. I don't know, I haven't slept at all tonight. Steven, on the other hand, is sleeping like a baby and even snores!

I decided that now was a better time than never to try out my Plan B.

I struggled out of Steven's grip and got off the tiny bed. Not even Derek took up as much space as he did! I then got on all fours and began to feel my way around the dark room. I felt around the floor until I reached a wall. I then stood up and began to feel around the wall for the door. I was just waving my hands all over the door until I hit the light switch by accident.

The dark room was lit up in an instant.

"What?" Steven got up, a little confused. "Myren, what are you doing?"

"I, uh…" I wasn't able to come up with an excuse that would let me leave the room. "I had a bad dream and I got really scared."

"So you turned the light on?"

"It was that or have you check the closet for monsters."

Steven got out of the bed (still naked, ew!) and walked over to me. He took me into his arms and rested his head on mine.

"I'll protect you from the bad dreams," he whispered.

_If I was asleep, then the nightmares would be about you!_

Steven then led me back to the bed and he turned off the light. Then the room was pitch black again. I felt Steven spoon me again.

"How are you feeling now?" he asked.

"Like crap," I muttered.

"Aww, now that hurts my feelings, you should feel ecstatic! You just lost your virginity."

"Yea, I lost it to you."

"All the more reason to feel happy."

I sighed. This guy is really full of himself.

"You still miss Derek don't you?" Steven asked.

I was quiet. Did I really miss that good-for-nothing mutt? The one who always makes me do my homework, check in, and go to bed on time? The one who makes me smile when he fears that he's done something wrong? The one who makes my heart beat when he says my name or tells me he loves me? The one who I love?

"I do," I said.

"Well, Myren, I hate to see you this way," Steven said. "If it makes you feel better, I can tell Derek that you're not really dead."

"Would I be able to see him?"

"Let's not too carried away. He can know that you're alive and well. I could even mail him like monthly letters letting him know how you're doing."

"That's a great idea," I said, shocked at how willingly Steven was to allow me to have contact with Derek.

"Fine," Steven sighed. "Later this morning, I'll go to La Push and tell him you're still alive."

"Thank you so much." Then I thought for a while. "Where are we?"

"We're just in a remote area. Just maybe twenty miles away from La Push."

A remote area? That sucks.

"Need anything else?" Steven asked.

"No, I'm fine," I replied. Then I fell asleep, knowing that Derek would be okay later on today.

"You can't be serious," I said.

"I'm being 100% serious," Steven said, smirking at my disbelief. "I want this house spotless by the time I get back."

"But it already is spotless!" I whined.

"No," Steven said. "I want the fridge cleaned, the bathroom cleaned, the basement swept, the laundry done, and I want dinner ready when I get home."

"Why?"

"Because Myren," Steven scoffed. "A partnership requires both people to help. If I'm the one who has to work and earn money, get the groceries and stuff, and do the things outside in the public, then you're going to have to care for the house."

"I could go get groceries and stuff," I said.

"No, you're not allowed out of the house yet."

"Well how long are you going to be out?"

"Until eight o'clock."

"PM?"

"Yea."

"But it's seven in the morning right now!"

"Then I expect you to be done when I get back."

"You mean it's going to take the whole day to clean the house and cook?"

"Not if you do it fast."

I rolled my eyes. "Derek never made me do this," I snapped.

"Well I'm not Derek," Steven snapped back.

"I wish you were," I said under my breath.

"I've got to go now," Steven said. "I'll tell Derek you're still alive." He then walked over and kissed me on the forehead. "Love you."

Steven then walked outside and took off his clothes, which he tied to his leg with a piece of rope. He then phased into a wolf and took off in the forest in front of the house.

Well, since Steven was telling Derek that I'm still alive, then that means that there's no longer any need for my plans. Derek would stop at nothing to find me. And once he did, I'd be free of Steven and his stupid household chores!

If he thinks that I'm doing those chores, he's high. I walked into the living room and turned on the TV. I then found out that it only got local channels. I turned off the TV and walked into the bedroom.

This house is messed up! One bathroom that doesn't have a window, one bedroom with a twin-sized bed, a TV that doesn't have DirecTV, and it's in the middle of nowhere!

I flopped myself down on the bed. Steven had bought me all new clothes, exactly like the ones I always wear, so at least that was one good thing that was here.

I had only gotten like thirty minutes of sleep! I was so tired, I couldn't help closing my eyes and drifting off into a deep sleep…

I opened my eyes. I yawned and did a big stretch that felt so good! I then decided that I should get out of bed and at least make an attempt to do the chores. I walked into the kitchen and looked at the clock on the microwave. I had only been asleep for twenty minutes. Wait!

It said 7:20 PM! I was asleep for eleven hours and twenty minutes?

I rushed to the fridge. Steven said that he wanted it cleaned. I opened the door and saw that the only thing in there was a box of old Chinese food, which really stunk! I took the box and threw it in the garbage can under the sink. I then sprayed some Febreeze in the fridge. That was done.

I then ran into the bathroom and sprayed some Frebreeze in there as well. It looked clean already.

I then ran downstairs into the basement and just waved the broom all over the floor and then set it down over in a corner. Basements are meant to be nasty. This one was empty; so I'm doing Steven a favor by giving him a normal house.

I forgot the other thing he wanted me to do. I'm sure it wasn't that important.

I then ran into the kitchen to see what I would make for dinner. There was nothing in the fridge, so I checked in the pantries. I was able to find noodles and a can of Prego. I guess spaghetti is a good meal.

I opened the package of noodles, but there was something wrong with them. They were hard! Aren't spaghetti noodles meant to be soft and chewable. These ones were all hard and crunchy!

Oh duh! I need to cook them! How do you cook noodles? I checked in the cabinets near the oven and found a pan. I put the noodles in the pan and put the pan in the oven, which I had set to broil. I have no idea what that means, but it sounds similar to "boil," so they must be the same!

I opened the jar of Prego and poured that into a bowl. It felt cold, but now it was 7:58. I had no time to put the Prego in the oven. The noodles were in there. I put the bowl on the table in the dining room, which was just separated from the kitchen by a counter. I then turned the oven off and opened it up. I grabbed a nearby dishtowel and took out the pan of…ash? What happened to my noodles?

"I'm home!" I heard Steven call.

Crap!

"Something smells," Steven said as he was walking towards the kitchen.

I quickly put the pan back into the oven and sat own at the table.

"How did your day go?" Steven asked as he sat down at the table, across from me.

"Oh it went all right," I responded. "I did all the chores and I made you tomato soup." I pushed the bowel of Prego towards him.

"You're not eating?"

"I'm tired from working too much. It messes up my appetite."

Steven picked up his spoon and tried some of my "tomato soup." He immediately spit it out.

"Myren, this is just spaghetti sauce, and it's cold!"

"It's gazpacho."

"Myren!"

"Well I was too busy with cleaning that I didn't have time to make you an extravagant meal!"

Steven got out of his chair and walked over to the fridge. He opened it up and looked inside. "I thought I told you to clean this," he said.

"I did clean it."

"No, there's still some dried up ketchup on the top level," Steven said.

"Uh, it's a color stain."

"And there's some crumbs in here."

"It's a fridge! Who's going to be inspecting that if they come over?"

Steven ignored my question and walked off in the direction of the bathroom. "You didn't even touch the bathroom!" he yelled.

"I didn't know what bathroom I was supposed to clean!" I yelled back as I went to go sit on the couch.

"There's only one!"

"Really? Now I never knew that…"

Steven left the bathroom and went downstairs into the basement. He then walked back upstairs and into the living room. Normally I would've made some smart remark, but I saw how mad he was getting. Steven's face was all red and his hands were clenched into fists. His whole body was shaking and his eyes were shooting daggers at me.

"You didn't even sweep the basement or do the laundry," he growled.

"Uh… I didn't know where the washer and drier were," I said.

"If you had swept the basement, then you would've seen them and the dirty clothes there!"

I couldn't believe this! Steven was getting all bent out of shape because I didn't do any of his chores! What was this? I felt like I was in that crappy Julia Roberts movie where she plays some lady who marries a man who beats her for doing the household chores wrong. Like she had to fold towels a certain way and put all the food in the cupboards with the label facing outwards!

"Um, sorry," I said.

"Even after I went to go tell Derek that you were alright, you can't even keep the house clean."

Oh yea! I had forgotten that Derek was supposed to be informed that I'm still alive! "How was he?" I asked.

"What was that?' Steven asked, still very pissed off. "You want to know how sweet, little Derek is doing?"

I nodded.

"Well I'll tell you: he's dead!"

"Excuse me?"

"When he saw the fake picture of you, he went crazy and couldn't be calmed down. He even tried to attack Emily, and that's when Sam realized that Derek had to be killed. They gave him poison."

I just sat there speechless.

"They put it in his drink and he died shortly afterwards."

That isn't possible. Derek would never mean to hurt anyone. Although Jacob did tell me about how he used to act abusive to his past boyfriends. Could he have been bottling up all that aggression when I was around, and then when I was thought to be dead it was unleashed?

"I don't believe you," I said.

"I'm sorry Myren," Steven said as he came and sat down next to me on the couch. "Sam told me himself."

"That's not…possible."

"It is. At least we still have each other. I love you." Steven leaned in to kiss me.

I shoved him back and stood up off the couch. "No!" I shouted. "Derek isn't dead!"

"Come here," Steven said as he got up and put out his arms.

"Go away!" I screamed. "I hate you!"

Steven dropped his arms and began to look pissed off again. "No you don't," he growled.

"There's no way I could ever love you," I said, leaning closer to Steven's face. "I fucking hate you."

Steven thrust out his fist and it hit me right in the stomach. My air left me and then Steven picked me up over his head. He then tossed me across the room. I think my feet even hit the roof.

Steven then left the room and went into the kitchen. After three seconds he returned with a knife. Not one of the dull butter knives, but a sharp one meant for cutting thick pieces of steak.

I tried to get up off the floor, but Steven had already made it to me, sitting on my legs and holding my arms in one hand, and the knife in the other.

"Do it! Kill me!" I shouted, hoping that he wouldn't. I was hoping that he'd realize what he was doing and stop.

"How could you think that I'd want you dead?" Steven asked, sounding hurt.

"You threw me across the room and have a knife in your hand!"

"No," Steven laughed nervously. "I did it to me too." He put the knife down and lifted up his shirt. I saw in scarlet scabs over his chest, the phrase _I heart Myren_ was carved.

"You're gonna carve 'I heart Myren' on my chest?" I asked.

Steven chuckled. "Stay still," he whispered. "That way, it won't get messy."

Steven lifted my shirt and picked up the knife.

"Woah! No, no, no! You are not cutting me!" I shouted.

"I'm sorry Myren," Steven whimpered. "But this way, we'll be bound together forever."

He then put the knife in me. I felt it slice my skin as he made an "I." I screamed in pain and agony every second the blade was near me.

"Stop it! Stop it!"

"Myren, please just try to relax." Tears were now coming to Steven's eyes.

Once the "I" was finished, Steven moved onto the heart.

I think I screamed even louder with the heart than the I. The curves of the shape tugged on my already ripped skin, making the pain intensify.

"Almost done," Steven said.

"Go to Hell!"

Then Steven went on to carve his name in me. My screams had turned into gasps of breath that were meant to help me through the pain. I figured that if I held my breath, then my mind would be taken off the pain. Well that didn't work, it just made me light-headed.

"All done!" Steven said as he stood up. He left the room and then shortly came back with a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. He poured it all over my chest.

I screamed again as the chemicals fizzed over my cuts, making the stinging pain burn.

Steven then put a towel up to my chest and held it there tightly. "You bleed a lot right above your belly button," he said, sounding impressed.

I just closed my eyes and tried to ignore the pain on my stomach.

"Now you see, we don't have to put ink on this. Our cuts were deep enough so that scars will just stay there."

_Derek, I hate you! You left me here to get cut up by some freak! _Why was I still talking to him in my mind? Obviously, he wasn't alive anymore, so maybe I should just try to love Steven.

"Wanna see it?" Steven asked, taking away the towel.

I lifted my head to see _I heart Steven _carved in my stomach, just above my belly button.

"Pretty," I muttered.

"I know! I always wanted to get matching tattoos with Nikki, but she didn't want to, so I just never got one. I think I like these ones more-"

"I love you," I lied, interrupting Steven's lame tattoo story.

Tears began to form in Steven's eyes. "I love you too!" he said as he took me into his arms.

I closed my eyes and tried not to cringe at the touch of Steven's skin.

_Derek you bastard. How could you leave me? Whatever, I hope you know what I have to go through now. Goodbye. _

_I mean it. Goodbye Derek._


	17. Old Myren

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months. Eventually it was December. I had spent eight months in this place Steven calls "Our House" and still, I haven't fallen for him.

I hate it here so much. The sun never shines brightly enough to break through the clouds. It's always snowing outside. Not that it matters: I'm not allowed to set foot outside the house. Steven says that there's dangerous vampires in the area and that I'd be putting myself in harm's way.

My life had fallen into a daily routine: Every morning at seven I'd wake up to watch Steven leave for work. He still hasn't told me what his job is or why it takes him so long to do it. I suppose he's just a cop or something like that. Then for the entire thirteen hours he's gone I clean the house and prepare dinner. I was bought a book that tells me the basics of preparing food. I think I'm actually doing pretty well. The toughest thing I can make is enchiladas, which don't sound too hard, but they are. Then at eight at night, Steven would come home and we'd eat dinner while he told me about his day. He'd only tell me about what he did with Sam and the others, telling me they asked how I was or what I'm up to. They'd never really given an interest in me at all, so I just told Steven not to tell them anything, which he was perfectly fine with. Then on every Friday, Steven would rent a movie and I'd make some popcorn. We'd then snuggle on the couch together and watch it. Once it was over, we went into the room to have sex. I hated Fridays with every bone in my body.

Steven had bought me some textbooks so that I could continue with my studies. Whenever I had any free time (which I rarely ever got) I'd read some history or some English, pretending that I was in the story instead of this prison.

I had to learn that I had a place in the house and whenever I stepped out of line, Steven had to put me back in my place. I once said "shit" around him and he hit me across the face and said that he didn't want me using anymore vulgar language. I'm also not allowed to say anything that may be considered offensive to others, so I mostly keep my mouth shut now. I think that I only said a total forty sentences in July, most of them being "I love you too." If I didn't tell Steven that I loved him, I was hit.

But through it all I just smiled and went along with it. I never cried once during my entire stay here and Steven said that he didn't want me to start. I just bottled up my emotions and did as I was told.

Derek was now a distant memory. I couldn't remember all the details of his face anymore. It seemed very fuzzy. I even found myself wondering if he had really existed or was I just trying to create an imaginary companion to help me through all the pain I endure in this house? That's probably it.

Steven had imprinted on me.

Derek had never existed. He was just a figment of my imagination.

"Did you have a good day?" Steven asked me as he ate his third helping of my lasagna.

I had even tried my own cooking. It reminded me of my cousin's. What was her name?

I nodded, answering Steven's question.

"So I went to La Push today and Sam wanted to know if you could visit them tomorrow."

I looked up from my empty plate, a little shocked. Never before had Steven mentioned me going to La Push.

"May I?" I asked, desperate to see something besides these boring white walls.

Steven shook his head. "Told him you couldn't. You have to clean the bathroom tomorrow."

I hung my head. I don't know why I actually thought that he'd allow me.

"Come on," Steven said, getting up and putting his dish in the sink. "I rented a scary movie this time." He then dashed into the living room.

I got up and put my dish in the sink. I'd have to wash the dishes tomorrow, maybe I'd do them before I do the bathroom. I then walked over to the pantry and took out a package of microwave popcorn, which was ready in two minutes.

I then took the popcorn and walked into the living room, where Steven was already seated on the couch. I turned off the light and sat in my regular spot: the first cushion on the left. I then handed Steven the bag of popcorn and rested my head on his left shoulder. He put his arm around me, pulling me closer.

I didn't pay much attention to the movie. It was about a boy who cracked from all these kids at school who kept teasing him. Then the boy started dating the janitor and they killed all the kids who kept teasing the boy. Then the boy drowned in a pool and the janitor kept killing the kids, but only on a rainy day because he thought that since there was a lot of water around that the boy's spirit was near.

The movie seemed familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Once the movie was over, Steven picked me up in his arms and took me into the room.

"Have a nice day!" Steven said to me as he kissed my forehead. "Remember, do the dishes and clean the bathroom. Then I want you to read some English."

I nodded.

Steven smiled, kissed my forehead one more time, and went outside where he phased into a wolf and took off.

I walked into the kitchen to start on the dishes. I was a little happy that Steven was going to let me read today. Although I knew he meant it as a substitute to letting me go to La Push.

I took the clean dishes out of the dishwasher and put them away in their correct places. I then rinsed off the dishes in the sink and then loaded them into the dishwasher. Then I put some soap in the dishwasher and started it.

That was done, now on to the bathroom. Usually when I clean the bathroom, I wipe the mirror, wipe the sink, clean the tub, scrub the toilet, and mop the floor.

I went into the bathroom and grabbed the bleach from the cabinet under the sink. I put on yellow rubber gloves and grabbed a sponge. I then sprayed the bleach in the tub and used the sponge to scrub around the edges. It wasn't that hard to finish the tub. Steven had me clean the bathroom everyday. It keeps it clean and therefore easier to clean.

I then took the Windex out and was about to spray the mirror when I saw something: someone was in the house.

I saw a small, thin boy. He looked as if he was underweight. I could see the cheekbones in his face and he tried to cover up his thin body by wearing baggy cargo shorts and a large black hoodie. The boy was very pale as if he hadn't seen sunlight once in his life, and he really needed to. His bottom lip was trembling. It looked like he was cold, or frightened. By the look in his eyes, I'd say that he was scared to death of something or someone.

"Are you alright?" I asked him.

The boy didn't respond. He just mouthed the words I said.

Then I saw that the boy was wearing yellow rubber gloves and had Windex in his hand.

I was looking in a mirror.

I shook my head and walked out into the kitchen. I threw the gloves in the sink and threw the Windex against a wall, making it shatter and spill all over the floor. I then grabbed some paper towels and began to clean up the mess I made.

"What the hell are you doing?" a voice asked from behind me.

I turned around to see the boy again. This time, he didn't look so sick. He had a little tan to his skin and he wasn't deathly thin. His eyes weren't full of fear anymore. They had something else: disgust, hatred, anger.

This was the old me. Old Myren.

He asked me again: "What the hell are you doing?"

"I have to clean this up before it stains the floor," I replied.

"Why?"

"Steven likes a clean house."

"Screw Steven!"

I shot up and turned in shock at what Old Myren had said. "Don't let him hear you," I whimpered.

Old Myren scoffed. "You disgust me!" he said. "Look what you're doing! You shouldn't be living in fear!"

"You're not real," I said.

"Like hell I'm not! You're not real either! Pretending to be in love with someone when you really hate everything about them. You're afraid of your own shadow now, thanks to that loser Steven! Whatever happened to Derek?-"

"Shut up!" I screamed. I threw the paper towel roll at where Old Myren was standing. He disappeared and the roll crashed into the sink. "Derek isn't real!" I hissed. "Old Myren isn't real!"

"Yes I am!"

I turned around to see Old Myren sitting on the table in the dining room.

"What do you want?" I asked him.

"We need to leave that loser Steven before he hits us again."

"It doesn't hurt."

"What!" Old Myren shot up off the table. "He's got you totally brainwashed! We need to get out of here now!"

"Where do I even go?"

"To La Push."

"Where is that?"

"I don't know."

"What good are you?"

"Hey, you're the one who's technically talking to himself, okay?"

Old Myren's kind of pushy. How could someone be that mean and insensitive?

"Before you think that I'm just some worthless memory," Old Myren began, "let me ask you one thing: 'Does Steven ever lock the sliding glass door he uses to leave the house every time he goes to work?'"

"I-I don't know," I stammered. I never gave it too much thought. I was just so relieved to know that Steven would be gone for a few hours.

I walked into the living room and approached the sliding glass door. I grabbed the handle and slowly began to slide the door to the left. It had opened! A cold wind rushed into the house and stunned me. It had been so long since I felt the wind.

I stared out into the open. There was a thick blanket of snow all over the ground. The house was about maybe fifty yards away from the forest. The forest was full of those Christmas-looking trees, evergreens? If I made it into the forest and just continued in a certain direction, then in a couple of hours, I'll reach La Push. Once I'm there, I'll ask Jacob to call Bella, who will drive me to Charlie's house, where Charlie will put me on a plane back to Boston with Uncle Henry where Steven will never find me!

I ran into the bedroom and went to the closet where all my clothes were. I put on a black long-sleeved shirt, long cargo pants, and my red hoodie. I then put on my shoes. None of these were meant to go traveling in the snow, but they were the warmest clothes Steven had bought for me. Whenever I got cold, I just turned on the heater.

I then dashed back into the living room and ran outside.

I nearly fell down when I was hit with the dramatic drop in temperature. I wrapped my arms around myself and wished that Old Myren was real so that he could give me his hoodie.

"Which way do I go?" I asked him.

"If you don't know, then I don't know!" he snapped and rolled his eyes.

I decided to just run forward. Hopefully I'd reach a road that would lead me into town.

I took off into the forest. I found it easier to run in the forest because the branches of the trees have reduced the amount of snow on the ground.

I ran for about half an hour when I had to stop to rest.

"I'm surprised," Old Myren said. "We usually can't run even for five consecutive minutes."

"Amazing," I panted.

"Don't stop now!"

I got up and took off, a little slower this time. I was jogging for ten minutes until I reached a small gap in the forest. The gap was covered in snow and only was about thirty feet wide. I looked to left and right. The gap extended all the way to where I couldn't even see it anymore.

"A river?" Old Myren asked.

"I don't know."

"At least you have lost a lot of weight, so don't worry about breaking the ice."

"Thanks. Can't you go first?"

"What good would that do?"

Oh yea. I keep having a little trouble remembering that Old Myren isn't real.

"Just run fast," he told me.

I rolled my eyes. I remember seeing on this movie that the character had to walk over some thin ice, and they did it nice and slow, and they made it.

I took one step forward and put it on the snow-covered ice. Nothing happened.

I took another step and everything seemed to be fine.

"Hurry up!" Old Myren whined.

I tuned him out and continued slowly inching forward.

"I think I'm going to make it!" I cheered.

Then the ice under my feet gave way. I fell on the hard ice, my feet in the hole and my torso on the ice. The cold river took my feet and began to slowly drag me into the hole.

"Well you're dead," Old Myren said as he disappeared into the air.

I clawed at the ice, digging my fingernails into the cold snow. The river kept dragging me more and more.

"Somebody help!" I yelled, hoping that one of the vampires Steven told me about would hear.

My feet were now numb, and all of my legs were in the water now.

"Help!"

My fingernail on my left pinky got torn off by the ice. The pain shocked me, causing me to let go of the ice and get sucked all the way underwater.

I was able to see the ice above me as I was carried downstream in the freezing water. My whole body was going numb and I was needing the air so badly. I was even swallowing some of the cold water, making me even colder.

Then a paw crashed into the ice ahead of me.

A bear?

Then a snout was shoved into the water. As I went under the snout, it lurched forward and grabbed the hood of my hoodie. It then slowly pulled me out of the water and onto the snow.

I blacked out.


	18. Jacob

"Myren?" a voice called frantically. "Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

I slowly opened my eyes and couldn't see the guy who was holding me, like a baby.

"Thank God you're alive! How are you feeling?" the person holding me asked. I pulled myself closer to the person, their body heat was so high. It felt as if it was defrosting my skin.

"Who?" I asked. I wondered if the person could hear me; I only breathed the word.

"You don't remember me?" the person asked. "It's Jacob."

"Jake?"

"Yea." Jacob was walking me somewhere, I didn't really care, I just cradled my head on his hot chest. "What luck! A house!"

Jacob then started running and I heard him close a door behind us. He then walked into a room and I heard water running; a bathroom. I was able to feel the steam from the hot water as it poured into the tub.

"Here," he said, putting me into the tub.

The water stung my skin, but it was a pain that brought so much pleasure (non-sexual) to me. I closed my eyes and rested my head on the wall.

"Myren," Jacob said.

"What?"

"I thought you were dead," he said. "We all saw the picture of you without your jaw."

"What?"

"Did you get it sewn back on?"

"I don't understand."

"For the past eight months, everyone in La Push thought that you were killed by Steven," Jacob said.

I opened my eyes and glared at him. I was about to say something when I noticed the bathroom. "Where are we?" I asked, getting nervous.

"I found this house in the middle of the forest," Jacob answered.

"No," I whispered. I got up out of the tub and realized that Jacob had taken me back to Steven's house.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Around seven PM. Why?"

"No, no that's bad."

"What's wrong?"

I ran into the bedroom and changed into some dry clothes.

I then ran into the kitchen and took out a box of ramen. That was easy and fast to cook.

"What's wrong Myren?" Jacob asked, walking into the kitchen.

I turned to him, a little confused about what to do. Steven would be able to smell his scent.

"You need to go," I said, walking over to the sliding glass door and opening it for him. "Now."

"What?"

"Steven's going to be here soon and he doesn't like it when I talk to others."

"What? Steven?"

"Yeah, he imprinted on me and now I live here with him. Didn't he tell you?"

Jacob shook his head. "Myren, we all thought you were dead. We haven't heard about you or Steven for eight months."

I closed the door and sat on the couch. "But he told me that he visited Sam."

"He lied. Steven never goes into La Push."

"Then why were you in the forest?"

"I was on patrol and I heard you yell for help."

I got up off the couch and went in the kitchen to start preparing the ramen. I got out a big pot, filled it with water and put it on the stove.

I sat down at the table and Jacob came to join me.

"What do you know about Nikki, Steven's first imprint?" I asked.

"Well, I know that he killed her," Jake answered. "Sam said that he pushed her down the stairs. But before, Nikki was a very nice, quiet girl, like Kim and Emily. She would always go everywhere with Steven."

"I'm forced to stay here though."

"Maybe Steven's just taking a lot more precaution because he already knows what it's like to lose an imprint."

I got up to see if the water in the pot was boiling yet. Nope. I hope it does soon, it's already 7:38. I went to go sit back down at the table.

"How could he have imprinted twice?" I asked.

Jacob shrugged. "I don't know. Imprinting is just something we'll never fully understand."

We just sat there for a while. I was just so happy that I had someone to talk to besides Steven and Old Myren. Steven was a douche and Old Myren was just too mean. Was I really like that?

I walked over to the boiling pot of water and put ten packs of ramen in it. I then walked over and stood in front of Jacob.

"Jake," I said, dropping to my knees.

"What? Are you okay?" he asked, a little puzzled.

"Please," I said. "Please, you have to get me out of here. I hate this. This isn't how I want to live." I stopped talking when I was on the verge of tears. I haven't cried once here and I don't plan on starting.

"What do you mean?" Jacob asked.

I stood up and lifted up my shirt to show him the "tattoo" Steven had given me. "He pinned me on the ground and did that with a knife. He rapes me. He beats me. He makes me do chores!"

Jacob sat there shocked. His eyes were locked on the carving on my stomach. I lowered my shirt back down to get his attention.

"How could anyone do that to their imprint?" Jacob asked himself.

"He's not right," I said.

I glanced back at the clock: 7:59.

"Go!" I said, grabbing Jake's hand and leading him to the door. "He's going to be home in a few seconds."

Jacob walked outside, then turned to me. "What about you?" he asked.

"Come back for me tomorrow at eight in the morning," I said. "Now hurry!"

Jacob phased into a wolf and dashed into the forest.

I ran back inside and grabbed the Frebreeze and began to frantically spray it everywhere in the house. By the time the can ran out, I heard Steven enter the house.

I ran back into the kitchen to finish the ramen.

"Hey Myren," Steven said, walking up to me and wrapping his arms around my waist. "How was your day?"

"It was good," I said, trembling a little.

"You cold?"

"Just a little."

Steven walked over to the thermostat and raised it up a bit. "There you go," he said.

"Thanks." I took the seasoning packets and put them in the pot, making the ramen a soup. I then took out two bowels and served Steven and myself.

I watched as Steven sucked it down, but I barely touched mine.

"You alright?" he asked.

I nodded. I was twirling the spoon around in my hand.

"You don't seem alright. What's on your mind?"

I looked up at Steven who had a look of concern on his face. How could someone so evil care for me so much?

"What did you do today?" I asked.

"I went to work and then to La Push, like I always do."

"What did you do in La Push?"

"I talked to Sam. He said that Emily might be pregnant."

"Really?" I asked, a little of the Old Myren coming into my voice.

"Yea."

"How far along is she?"

"About three weeks."

I looked back down at my spoon. I struggled on what I was going to say. Part of me just wanted to shut up and wait for Jacob to come tomorrow. Then another part of me wanted to confront Steven, and call him out on all his crap.

"Tell me something," I said.

"Just as long as you remember your place," Steven said a little suspicious as to why I was talking so much tonight.

"Did you love Nikki?" I asked.

"Of course," Steven scoffed. "I imprinted on her."

"Right. And do you love me?"

"I tell you I do everyday."

"That didn't answer my question."

"Of course Myren! I love you with every atom in my body," Steven said. He was looking so scared at what I was saying. "What are you getting at? Are you feeling neglected?"

"No."

"Are you jealous of Nikki? Because let me tell you, ever since I imprinted on you, I barely think of her anymore. There's only you in my heart!"

"Why can't I go outside then?" I asked.

"I told you, there's vampires."

"Then come with me."

Steven started to get a little red. Either he was getting angry or nervous that I had him in a corner. "There's a lot of vampires, I wouldn't be able to protect you very well."

"Then why do you have me stay in a house in a forest full of vampires that you wouldn't be able to protect me against very well?" I don't know why I never questioned him like this before.

"The house is very safe," Steven simply said. He didn't bother to go into details. He just left it at that.

"I see."

"Myren, why are acting like this?" Steven asked.

I knew I shouldn't have said it, but I couldn't help myself. "I went outside today."

"What?" Steven shouted as he shot out of his chair.

"I wanted to just feel the breeze and feel the snow," I said.

"Myren! Do you know what could've happened if someone saw you?" Steven screamed.

I shook my head. "Why don't you tell me?"

"You could've been killed!"

"Oh yea," I said, still using a very calm voice. "I _was_ seen by someone, just a vampire. I don't remember her name-"

"You met a vampire?"

"Yes, and she told me that she had spoken to Edward, who had spoken to Bella, who had spoken to Jacob, who had spoken to Sam, who said that as far as everyone knows, I'm dead." I smiled at my lie. I think that I'll be my old self in no time. I just hope that I'm a lot nicer than Old Myren.

Steven just stood there dumbfounded.

"Not only that," I said. "But you haven't been La Push at all."

Steven looked a little mad now. "They're lying to you!" he shouted.

"Or you are."

Steven walked up to me and slapped me across the face. "I would never lie to you!" he shouted.

I looked back at Steven and glared. "You never went to La Push, did you?" I asked.

Steven grabbed at his hair. "No! No! This is going all wrong! Tonight was supposed to be special!"

"What are you talking about?" I questioned.

Steven reached into his pocket and then got down on one knee. In his hand was a small box which he opened, revealing a golden wedding ring, just with no diamond.

"Myren Estrada," Steven said, a little sheepishly. "Will you marry me?"


	19. I'll Never Marry You!

I just stood there in silent shock looking at Steven. He was still right in front of me, down on one knee. Steven's expression was nervous, hopeful, and scared. How hypocritical! Even if I refused his proposal, he'd probably just make me marry him anyway.

"Marry me?" he asked again.

Steven is a liar! A dirty liar! He had told me that he told everyone in La Push that I was still alive after he had told them that I was dead. Well Jacob told me the truth: Steven had never even been to La Push since he had Rhett kidnap me from there!

If Steven had lied to me about all that, just what else did he lie about? Are there really vampires in the forest around the house? Did he really imprint on me? Was there ever a Nikki?

Did Derek really die, or was he still alive?

"Answer one more question for me," I said.

"Then you have to answer mine," Steven said.

I nodded. "Is Derek really dead?" I asked.

Steven growled.

"You didn't answer," I said. "Is Derek really dead?"

"Marry me," Steven ordered. The proposal wasn't a question anymore, but a command. I knew that would happen.

"He's alive isn't he?"

"Myren, I'm telling you to marry me!" Steven growled through his teeth.

I looked at the ring in Steven's hand. I raised my right hand and hit the ring out of his so that it went flying across the kitchen. Steven's face was now wearing surprise and pain. I'd hurt him from slapping the ring out his hand and I'm surprising him for standing up to him for the first time in eight months.

"Is Derek still alive?" I asked, raising my voice a little. It felt so weird to do that now. I've mainly spoken in whispers around Steven.

"Myren," Steven whimpered.

"He's still alive! You bastard!" I screamed.

"I'm sorry-"

"You're a liar!"

"Please just-"

"You stupid mutt!"

"Myren, I-"

"YOU RUINED MY LIFE!"

"Myren!" Steven shouted and grabbed my shoulders.

I stopped yelling and looked him in the eyes. He was standing up now and leaning towards me.

"Myren, I just wanted you to love me," Steven said.

That proves it! Derek is still alive and Steven lied about his death to me as he lied about mine to him!

Now, after eight months of staying strong, I lost it. A tear fell down my cheek and soon more came. I accidentally rested my head on Steven's chest. He wrapped his arms around me, but once he did, I shoved myself away and dried my eyes.

"Steven," I said, my voice a little shaky. "I don't want this. Please, I want to go home."

Steven looked at me with sad eyes. "You are home," he said.

Then he walked over to where the ring had fallen and picked it up. Then he walked back to where I was and put it on my ring finger. "It looks so beautiful on you," he said. Then he leaned forward and smacked his lips onto mine.

I pushed Steven away and then slapped him across the face. It hurt my hand a lot, but seeing the emotional pain on Steven's face was worth it.

"I will never marry you," I said through my teeth. "I will never love you."

Steven looked as if he was about to cry, so I decided to finish him off.

"I hate you!" I shouted.

That did it. A tear ran down Steven's cheek and more came. He tried to act all tough at first by just standing there with tears on his face, but after a while, he couldn't help but break down. Steven got down on the floor and grabbed a hold of my legs. He wasn't able to compose his face anymore, it got all distorted and red.

"Please Myren!" he blubbered. "I'm so sorry!"

"Let go," I said, trying to kick Steven away, but he just tightened his grip.

"Please don't push me away!"

"I'm not, I'm trying to kick you away!"

"I love you so much!"

"I hate you so much!"

I finally managed to free myself from Steven's grip. I then picked up the pot of ramen that was still on the stove and dumped the hot water on him.

Steven screamed with pain as the hot water burned on his head and back. He tried to lunge at me, but I hit him across the head with the pot, making him fall over. Once he was on the ground, I threw the pot at him.

Then I took off into the living and dashed in the direction of the sliding glass door. It was time to put Plan D into action!

Once I was in the middle of the living room, I broke out into a sprint and-

Steven grabbed me by the back of my neck and tossed me behind him. I flew until I hit the wall and crashed onto the floor. I glanced up at the wall, which now had humongous cracks on it.

Steven came up to me and pinned me down on the floor.

"I'd rather see you dead than with that mutt Derek!" he shouted.

"Get off me!" I shouted back.

Steven put his hands around my neck, blocking off my air. The bastard was choking me!

I tried to claw at his hands, but he didn't seem phased. Things began to get a little fuzzy when Steven let go.

"What happened to your pinky nail?" he asked.

I shrugged. Wasn't that the nail I lost on the river?

Steven picked me up by the neck. "You know what Myren?" he asked. "I'm starting to think that you haven't been obeying my orders at all."

He then walked over to the door that led down to the basement and opened it. Then he put me down.

"Go in there!" he screamed.

I shook my head and tried to get my breath back.

"Get your ass down there!"

I coughed and gave Steven the finger.

Steven then tried to push me in the doorway. I gripped the sides of the doorframe and wouldn't budge.

Steven then backed up and kicked me in the middle of my back, sending me flying down the stairs. He then closed and locked the door.

I laid at the bottom of the stairs. I don't think I broke anything; I'll just be very, VERY sore in the morning.

I got up and walked over to the small window that all basements have. I was about to open it when I heard the door open up.

Steven threw down some blankets and a pillow.

"There!" he shouted. "I'll let you out when I get back from work tomorrow! Then we can discuss the details of our wedding. Oh! And I expect the laundry to be done too!" He then closed the door and I heard the lock.

I went and laid on the blankets and waited patiently for morning to come. At eight in the morning, Jacob would come and break me out of here.

Then I would be able to be with Derek.


	20. Escaping

I used to find myself wishing that I'd get total amnesia. Then I wouldn't know anything about life outside Steven's house and it wouldn't seem so bad. Right?

Now, I'm so glad that I remembered the little things in my life, like Jacob. I'm literally counting away the minutes until he comes and breaks me out. Steven had already left, so now it's only one hour more.

I still laid on the blankets and pillow that Steven had thrown down here for me. There was nothing else I could do. I had already left Steven a Goodbye Present by pissing on his clothes. I had already opened the window to the basement. I think I could squeeze through, but I'd rather Jacob be here to help me out if I get stuck.

I was getting so bored and impatient now. If only I could imagine Old Myren again so that I could talk to him, but for reason, he wouldn't show up.

An hour had finally passed by. I wasted time by taking a bath using the washing machine water and then blowing bubbles with the soap. It was the most fun I'd had the whole time I've been here. Pathetic right?

"Myren? You down there?" I heard Jacob's voice.

I quickly put my clothes back on and dashed over to the window and saw Jacob crouched by it.

"Thank God you're here!" I cheered. "Steven asked me to marry him."

Jacob gave a little chuckle. "What did you say?"

"No, of course."

"Tough."

I reached my arms out of the window and Jacob grabbed a hold of them. Then, as if I was coated with butter, I just slid right out of the basement window and into the snow.

I breathed with relief and tears even came to my eyes as it hit me: I was leaving Steven's house for good!

"Thank you so much Jake," I said.

"No problem." Jacob then helped me up and began to take off his pants.

Normally, I would've been weirded out by seeing Jacob naked, but now, I could care less. I just wanted him to phase and then carry me to La Push. Hell, I'd get naked if it helped things go faster!

Jacob then phased into his wolf form and knelt down a little so that it would be easier for me to climb on. I literally jumped on him and wrapped my arms around his neck.

I couldn't resist shouting "Mush!" And when I did, Jacob took off running at a great speed.

Within two minutes, he had already jumped over the river that almost killed me.

This all felt so unreal. I expected to open my eyes and find myself still in the basement or doing the laundry. I also expected Steven to come jump out at us from the bushes or out of a tree. I looked around us every twenty seconds to make sure we weren't being followed.

After about thirty minutes, Jacob reached a sign that read: _La Push_.

Tears of joy began to stream out of my eyes. I glanced around at the familiar trees, rocks, bushes, asphalt. Soon, I could see Jacob's house directly in front of us.

Then Jacob took a left.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

Jacob, having no way of answering me, just decided to ignore my question.

It was answered in a minute as I saw Sam's house coming into view. Once we were in the backyard, I got off of Jacob. He phased back into a human and put his pants back on.

"Come on," he said as he began to go up to the house.

"Wait," I said, pinching myself to make sure I was awake. "Where's Derek?"

"Probably at the house or on patrol. Only me and Sam know you're still alive."

Jacob reached out his hand. I took it and was lead into Sam's house.

Unlike the last time I saw it, the house seemed bigger. There was only two werewolves and a human in here.

"Myren," Sam said, stepping out of the kitchen. "It's great to see that you're still alive."

For some reason, I knew that he meant this, mainly for Derek's mental heath though. Anyways, it still felt good. "Thank you."

Sam motioned for me to sit on the couch. I did and he sat next to me. Then he turned to Jacob. "Go tell the others, except Derek. Let Myren tell him himself."

Jacob nodded and started out.

"Thank you Jacob!" I called.

Jacob froze in his tracks and turned to face me with a shocked expression.

"Yes, I'm thanking you for saving me," I said, a little shocked at what I was doing too.

Jacob nodded and left the house.

Sam then turned to me. "Myren, there's some things you deserve to know," he said. "First though, tell me what happened while you were there."

I told Sam everything: how I was kidnapped, how Rhett and Patrick played a part in it, how Steven had imprinted on me, how he made me do the household chores, how he would beat me, how he carved _I heart Steven_ in my stomach, how I almost drowned in the river, how Jacob saved me, how Steven proposed to me, how he made me sleep in the basement, and how Jacob helped me escape.

Sam nodded as he took it all in. Then he spoke. "Myren, Steven didn't imprint on you."

"What do you mean?"

"A werewolf could never have the willpower to beat their imprint or cause them any kind of pain. Seven was just obsessed with you for reason."

"Well, what do I do? He's still out there."

"No he's not," Sam said. "I got word that Leah and Jared got him."

I smiled.

"That's about it," Sam said as he stood up and helped me up. "Go over to Derek's and I'll call Charlie for you."

"Thanks," I said, shocked again at how polite I was being. I then walked out of the house and in the direction of Jacob's.

"Myren?" Sam called out to me.

"Yeah?" I asked, turning around.

"I like this Myren better," he shouted. "The nice one."

I smiled. "Me too."

I then turned around and continued onto Jacob's house. Once I reached it, I saw a note on the front door that read:_ Derek's on patrol until midnight._

I sighed. More waiting? I took the note off the door and went inside where I walked upstairs and into Derek's room. I went over to the closet and opened it . On the floor were boxes that read: Myren's clothes.

I opened one up and took out some fresh clean clothes. I then took a shower and made myself all clean.

Then I changed into my real clothes and went to go lay on Derek's bed. I took a pillow and hugged it as I waited for midnight.


	21. Reunited

I waited for what seemed an eternity. The note had said that Derek would be back at midnight. I got to his house at, maybe nine in the morning. All I have to do is just find things to do to make the time fly.

At first, I attempted to take a nap. That failed. I was too anxious to see Derek again. Every time I closed my eyes, I just kept thinking that I'd been laying in the bed for hours. When I get up and look at the clock on my phone (which I found on laying on Derek's pillow), I always got disappointed to find that I'd been lying there for five minutes.

I gave up trying to sleep and went downstairs. I turned on the TV, but like always, nothing was on. I was so bored that I even began to clean around the house. I washed all the clothes, cleaned the kitchen and the bathrooms, washed the windows, and did all the dishes. That wasted at least two hours. Now it was around 11:30 am.

This is ridiculous! I have nothing to do at all! No TV, no chores, I couldn't even do homework! I tried talking to Billy, Jacob's dad, but he said that he had to go over to the Clearwaters' house for something. He most likely just got tired of me trying to pry the reason he was in a wheelchair out of him.

This sucks! I walked into the bathroom and went over to the medicine cabinet. I opened it up and took out some Lunesta. They probably used this for Jacob to help him sleep when he was first transitioning into a werewolf or something. I took two pills and went upstairs to lie on Derek's bed. Right when I laid down, I fell asleep.

"Myren?" a voice asked me as I was gently shaken awake.

"Derek?" I whispered.

"No, it's me. Jacob."

I opened my eyes and saw Jacob leaning over me. "What time is it?" I asked him as I straightened up. I rubbed my eyes and stretched out my arms. Within about five seconds, I felt wide awake and well rested. Those sleeping pills really do work!

"It's 11:45," Jacob answered.

"What?" I shouted. I can't believe that I'd been asleep for only fifteen minutes.

Jake raised his eyebrow. "Yeah, it's 11:45, well, now 11:46. You've been asleep the whole day. I figured I'd wake you up now to give you fourteen minutes before Derek gets home."

"Oh." I looked at the window and saw that it was pitch-black outside. I got out of the bed and followed Jake downstairs. We then sat on the couch.

"How are you going to reveal yourself to Derek?" Jake asked me. He was probably trying to waste time with me since there was still nothing on TV.

I shrugged. "I figured I'd just say 'Hi,' as he walked in through the door."

Jacob chuckled. "That sounds like a good idea." Then his face got serious. I can tell where this is going to go.

"Just tell me what wrong," I sighed.

Jacob sighed as well. "There's…well…Derek's not really the same."

"What do you mean?"

"Look, he's just not the same person. He barely speaks to anyone and he hasn't really been himself since he thought you died."

I just sat in silence. I knew that Derek wouldn't be the same cheerful, loving person I once knew. I just didn't expect the change to be so noticeable.

"Well," Jacob said, "I have to get back on patrol. I just dropped off to check on you. I haven't been allowed to phase so that Derek couldn't read my thoughts and find out that you were here. So I gotta run all the way to the beach. See you later."

Jacob got off the couch and walked outside.

I glanced at the clock on the wall and saw that Derek had ten seconds left. I sank into the couch and counted down to myself. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

The door opened.

A man walked inside. He was very pale. He almost had to duck to get in through the doorway. He had the same muscle tone as Sam. He had dirty blond hair that was cut short, but the bangs were still there, although they weren't styled or anything. The man was wearing a sad face, but he had lines that told me that he used to constantly be smiling. I also saw slight stubble on his chin. The man obviously didn't find it important to care about his appearance; perhaps a lack of motivation? His clothes also contributed to that theory: his had no shirt on, showing off his very impressive chest muscles, and his shorts were just very old and tattered basketball shorts. His ice blue eyes hadn't noticed me on the couch yet. They were focused on the floor, depressed. Could this sad man be the once happy Derek I loved?

How should I get his attention? I had wanted to sneak up on him, like a surprise. However, once I saw this sad, built man, that idea flew out the window: I might scare him and his first impulsive reaction would be to kill me.

I opened my mouth, but no words came out. Why was I so scared?

Derek slumped his way into the kitchen. After a few minutes, I heard the clanking of pots and the sound of running water.

I cleared my throat, over-exaggerating it a little bit to make sure Derek heard. The water stopped and I heard the pot get set on the counter. Then footsteps made their way into the living room.

Derek stopped in his tracks when he saw me on the couch. He just stood there, his mouth open in shock and a single tear falling from his left eye.

"Hi," I said sheepishly.

"…Myren?" Derek asked, unsure if he was dreaming or not.

I nodded. "I'm here-"

Derek rushed over to the couch and scooped me up in his arms. I was being pressed so tightly to his chest that I knew I'd have some bruises, but I wanted him to hold me even tighter. Derek began to cry a little bit. He shoved his face into my hair to try to hide it.

"It's okay," I whispered, starting to cry myself.

That's how Derek and I spent our first night in a long time together: holding one another, blubbering.

"I love you," I told him.

"I love you too," he sobbed.

I knew that Derek and I were soul-mates. There was no doubt about it now. I felt bad for all the pain I'd put him through, but hopefully I could make it up to him. Hell, we've got the rest of our lives together. I'm bound to do one thing to make him happy. I leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. He grabbed my head and kissed me back.


End file.
